Just a Stare
by Laura Brown
Summary: This story involves a life changing visit from Daphne's childhood friend.
1. Just a Stare, part I

_Spoilers: This takes place while Niles was separated from Maris, before divorce proceedings.   
  
Summary: This was created out of my desire to write one of those long, heart wrenching, romance stories that I love to read so much. You can read that as a warning or a teaser. My thanks to Sydney for not seeing this as a warning.   
  
Disclaimer: I do not own these characters. They belong to the brilliant minds of Paramount and Grub St. This story is merely for the enjoyment of those who read it and nothing more. Enjoy!_  
  
**Just A Stare**  
  
     By Laura Brown  
  
  
**Daphne**  
  
I, Daphne Moon, woke up in a wonderful mood, something that doesn't happen very often. I normally am woken up by my alarm, yelling at me to get up and make the breakfast to please Dr. and Mr. Crane. Today was different, however. Today my childhood friend was coming for a visit. Bryce has been my friend since grammar school. We even managed to keep our friendship alive after he moved to Wales. I have not seen him in ten years; it has been far too long. I took my shower and got dressed, going through five outfits before settling on one. I just wanted to look my best for my friend.  
  
Although my alarm woke me up my clothes decision must have taken longer than expected for Dr. and Mr. Crane beat me to breakfast.   
  
"Good morning Dr. Crane, Mr. Crane," I said happily.  
  
"Good morning Daphne," Dr. Crane said as he sipped his coffee.  
  
"Daph, why are you so happy?" Mr. Crane asked. I grabbed meself a muffin before I began to speak.  
  
"Well, me old friend Bryce is coming in for a visit today. He has a business meeting here, in Seattle; he might even be relocated here. I'm so excited for I have not seen him for such a long time. You should have seen us when we were kids, practically in separable. In fact, he would stick up for me when any of me brothers would pick on me. Got quite a few shiners for that, he did."  
  
"Sounds like he was a good friend." I turned around; I hadn't even seen Dr. Crane enter the apartment. I did, however, notice Dr. and Mr. Crane giving each other glares. Well, at least one Crane likes my stories.   
  
"Oh, he was, it was such a shame that he moved away."  
  
"When is he coming, Daphne?" the elder Dr. Crane asked.  
  
"Oh, around 2, his flight arrives this morning."  
  
"Well, we can't wait to meet him," the younger brother pronounced.  
  
"Oh, you won't be, I'm meeting him at the Space Needle, he's never been, ya know? Well, he's never even been to America before so this whole visit should be an experience for him." I then went into the kitchen to get myself some coffee.  
  
  
**Niles**  
  
"Don't tell me your jealous of this guy?" Frasier asked me.  
  
"Well, why aren't you? Some old friend that she hasn't seen in years just suddenly drops in to say 'hi', there is every reason to be suspicious."  
  
"Niles, they went to elementary school together, he probably remembers Daphne at age ten."  
  
"So, just because he's an old friend doesn't mean he's not a charlatan."  
  
"You know, Niles, I think this is becoming a very revolting attribute of yours," Frasier declared. I ignored my brother and decided to get myself a muffin. I wanted to find out more information about this "Bryce."  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Daphne~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
The cold autumn wind was brisk against my cheeks as I waited for Bryce to arrive. Truth be told, I was a little nervous, it had been a long time since I'd seen him. My most vivid memory was that of an eleven-year-old Bryce, short freckled boy with bright red curls. That wasn't the image I was met with upon our last meeting. I remember being quite taken aback by my friend that day, ten years ago. He was a tall and muscular man, still with his freckles and those gorgeous red curls playfully dangling around his head. His green eyes had in captivated me that day which was an all too strange feeling coming from someone who was such a dear friend for so many years. In many ways he was like another brother, although I have never fully made that comparison for I have quite enough brothers as it is.  
  
I soon noticed a figure coming my way. I knew it was Bryce right from the start. Though his hair was a little shorter it was still the same red curls, bouncing in the wind. I gave him a vivacious wave.  
  
"Daphne!" He called in his English accent, a sound that I have greatly missed. He jogged over to me and gave me a hug. "How have you been?"  
  
"Fine, how was your flight?"  
  
"Oh bloody hell, would you believe they almost lost my luggage? The bags were almost taken away with the wrong tags on them!"  
  
"Oh dear!"  
  
"I'm just glad they were here waiting for me when I landed."  
  
"I'll bet you were."  
  
"How's mum and the gang back home?"  
  
"Oh, same old same old. Mom's got some medical condition to complain about, and when she does Dad hangs out at the pub. Simon's off doing whatever it is he does –"  
  
"Besides drink?"  
  
"If he does anything else. Billy's got a new flavor of the month; hopefully he will last longer than the last one. Stephen has a baby girl, Audrey. And the rest are typical Moons."  
  
"Typical Moons," Bryce said while sighing. "It always amazed me how a family so diverse and loony could be so typical."  
  
"Your family wasn't all that normal either, if I remember correctly. How are they?"  
  
"Mum and Dad are getting older but still doing good. Sara got married a few years back. Mum's hoping a baby's going to be on the way soon."  
  
"I hope she isn't nagging Sara."  
  
"She is, but not more than she's nagging me: 'Bryce, get married, am I ever getting any grandchildren from my first born?'" The two of us had a good laugh.  
  
"I get that times two 'Daphne, are you coming home for the holidays this year?' Daphne, you're not getting any younger, are you?"  
  
"Parents can be pains." We walked around the Space Needle and I pointed out different spots of interest. Conversation then turned to Seattle and America, it wasn't until we were leaving that it took a personal spin again.  
  
"So tell me about this family that you work for, you've always written wonderful stories about them."  
  
"Well, the old man I work for is Martin Crane. He used to be a cop and has a real tough exterior but he's really just a softy on the inside. He's a real man's man, sport watching, beer drinking, the whole lot."  
  
"Sounds a bit like your family"  
  
"Yes, but a much more pleasant version! He lives with his son, Dr. Frasier Crane. The total opposite of his father, Opera going, Sherry drinking, clean, prissy. I tell you, he can be a real pain sometimes."  
  
"Really?"  
  
"Yes, try cleaning up daily for a person with impeccable standards. However he's a good bloke, so I've grown accustomed to rolling my eyes."  
  
"Sounds like you have to."  
  
"Then there's Mr. Crane's other son, Dr. Niles Crane. He's a good one, visits his father and brother quite a lot. He's just like his brother though; they are practically identical in behaviors, though this Dr. Crane has a softer edge. I feel bad for him, right now he's separated from his wife."  
  
"Is he taking it hard?"  
  
"I'll say, I don't rightly know why, she's awful for him. Controlling and manipulating, he could do so much better."  
  
"Then hopefully this separation will help him find that."  
  
"I sure hope so, how about you, any girlfriends?"  
  
"Not for a while. I just can't seem to find someone who I really click with."  
  
"Same here, its tough to find someone who is compatible, never mind the right one."  
  
We continued talking for an hour more and then Bryce went back to his hotel room to prepare for his meeting. I went home feeling better than I have in a long time.  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Frasier~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
Niles and I were sitting in the café talking. At least, I was trying to talk, Niles kept spacing off.  
  
"Niles! Will you stop thinking about Daphne for two seconds and focus on what I'm trying to say!"  
  
"Frasier, when I have I not been thinking about Daphne for more than two seconds?" Niles said as he sighed.  
  
"You normally do better than this."  
  
"I just don't trust this Bryce guy, something's going to happen, mark my words."  
  
"Are you inheriting Daphne's psychic abilities?" I teased my younger brother.  
  
"No, however, there is such a thing as a gut feeling Frasier, you know that."  
  
I decided to let the conversation drop, something in Niles' voice told me that the assumption may in fact be correct. When I arrived home that evening I was anxious to see Daphne and make sure that she was, in fact, all right. I found her straightening up the apartment and Dad watching the television.  
  
"Good evening. Dr. Crane how was work?"  
  
"Fine, thank you Daphne. How was your visit with your friend?" I asked as I saw my father roll his eyes, apparently the meeting went well.  
  
"Oh, it was absolutely wonderful! It has been such a long time since I really had a chance to just talk with Bryce. And that's all we did, just talk and talk and talk. We're going to go out for dinner tomorrow night, so you lot will get a chance to meet him." At that Daphne made her way into the kitchen.  
  
"Has she been talking about this a lot?" I asked Dad.  
  
"Constantly since she's arrived home. And then I got to hear her tell her mother." I sighed and went into his bedroom. It seemed to me that Niles was getting worried for no reason at all.   
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Daphne~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
As I got ready to meet Bryce the next night I could feel a few jitters floating around in my stomach. I knew that I was about to reach a turning point in my life; something big was going to happen. I didn't want to dwell on that thought because it led me straight to Bryce. I didn't want to imagine there was something between us before there had any right to be anything there at all.  
  
The doorbell rang and my heart jumped a bit. I finished putting on my makeup and entered the living room.  
  
"Niles" I heard Dr. Crane say sternly as the other Dr. Crane entered the apartment. He gave his brother's grave voice no heeding and instantly turned towards me.  
  
"Daphne, you look wonderful," Dr. Crane said in a breathless voice. I seemed to always look good to him.  
  
"Thank you Dr. Crane. Spending the evening with your brother?"  
  
"No," the older Dr. Crane responded. I noticed both Dr. and Mr. Crane rolling their eyes. That's odd; they seem to do that a lot when the third Crane is around…  
  
The doorbell rang again, knocking my back to my senses. I quickly turned towards Mr. Crane as Dr. Crane moved towards the door.  
  
"Do I look alright?"  
  
"You look fine, Daph, you always do," Mr. Crane said exasperatedly, he never deals well with questions like that; don't know why I can't seem to stop asking them.  
  
Dr. Crane then let my date into the room. Oh dear, did I just call him my date? That can't do. Bryce did look good wearing a natty green suit that played up his eyes.  
  
"Daphne that's a wonderful dress," he said to me.  
  
"Thank you, that suit isn't bad either." Isn't bad? It was practically making me swoon.  
  
"Allow me to introduce myself, I'm Niles Crane," Dr. Crane said, breaking a small silent stare between Bryce and me. Oh dear, something was definitely about to happen.  
  
"Hello, Bryce McGee," Bryce responded while shaking Dr. Crane's hand.  
  
"This is my brother Frasier and my father Martin."  
  
"Hello."  
  
"Hi," Dr. Crane and Mr. Crane said simultaneously.  
  
"Well, we better be off, don't want to be late for those reservations," I said while getting my coat and moving towards the door. "Good night all."  
  
"Night Daph," Mr. Crane said. I didn't wait for any of the other Crane's to respond. I grabbed Bryce's arm and dragged him out of the apartment.  
  
  
**Niles**  
  
"Oh my god I want to die!" I said while slumping into the couch.  
  
"Niles would you get a grip! He's her childhood friend!" Frasier exclaimed.  
  
"Did you see that stare, they undressed each other and reached for a cigarette."  
  
"Niles, that was not a lust a stare," Dad said.  
  
"Then what was it?"  
  
"Honestly?"  
  
"Yes, honestly."  
  
"It was a stare between two people who had have never thought of each other in a romantic sense before until that look."  
  
"Oh my god."  
  
"Niles, relax, take it easy."  
  
"Take it easy? Take it easy! The woman I love is about to fall for that, that mongrel!"  
  
"So do something about it." Dad had me there.  
  
"I can't."  
  
"Then shut your trap." He turned back to the game.  
  
"Niles, why can't you do anything?" Frasier said, obviously being the one less peeved by my behavior.  
  
"I just can't Frasier. After everything that I've gone through with Maris, with past girlfriends, I can't risk her rejection."  
  
"You don't know what you don't try."  
  
"If I don't try at least I can't blame myself. It's a far better thing to blame myself then to know I was not worthy or her love."  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Daphne~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
I had a wonderful dinner with Bryce. We chatted about old times and about times since then. There was never a dull moment. Before I knew it we were standing at the door saying goodnight.  
  
"Daphne, it's really been great to see you again," Bryce spoke slightly softer than usual.  
  
"Indeed it has, our time together has always been so precious."  
  
"That is certainly true." An uncomfortable silence filled the air as we both shifted uncomfortably.  
  
"We're not little kids anymore," I said to break the tension.  
  
"That is true, though I still remember you as a slinky little girl."  
  
"And I remember you as a pudgy little boy."  
  
"We're not so young anymore," Bryce said while inching closer to me.  
  
"Or little," I replied back as our faces became inches apart. We looked deeply into each other's eyes and then slowly, timidly, pulled together for a kiss. It was short and sweet, just enough to break childhood impressions and replace them with adult ones. Bryce pulled away and spoke.  
  
"Good night Daphne."  
  
"Good night, Bryce." With that he turned and pressed for the elevator and I made my way into the apartment, my head in the clouds.  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Niles~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
I, Niles Crane, have been living in hell for the past two months. Daphne's Bryce was supposed to fly home to England, not land a job in Seattle. I still remember the day I heard he was staying. I was over at Frasier's when the doorbell rang and Daphne answered it…  
  
"Bryce!" Daphne exclaimed, giving him a quick kiss.  
  
"Hello Daph, Hi all!" Bryce entered the apartment.   
  
"I thought we were meeting later for dinner?" Daphne asked.  
  
"Oh, we are, I just got some good news and I couldn't wait to tell you!"  
  
"What type of news?" Dad asked.  
  
"Well I've been here on business for my firm. Seattle's branch hasn't been doing too good and they are looking to bring in some new blood. Today they asked me to stay!" My heart fell to floor and shattered as if it was the most delicate of glasses.  
  
"What did you say?" Daphne asked. She was nervous, uncommonly nervous and I had no idea how to interpret that.  
  
"I said," Bryce turned his whole attention to Daphne and took her hands into his, I wanted to scream, "I'm staying in Seattle, that is, if you want me to stay."  
  
Daphne looked up him with a speechless expression. In my head and my heart I screamed "no!" but that, of course, made no affect on Daphne's response.  
  
"Oh Bryce, this is wonderful!" And as the world began to spin beneath my feet I saw her give him an enormous hug out of the corner of my eye.   
  
I excused myself shortly thereafter and went home with every intension of finding biggest bottle of wine that I could. Before I had left Dad had taken me aside:  
  
"Niles, I'm really sorry. But this is just a friend that she will be seeing for a while. Who knows where they will end up? Just go home, drink some scotch or whisky, not wine. And relax." He then gave me a hug and sent me on my way. I don't have the best relationship with my father but I do know how much he cares for me. Just for that I decided to take his advice and searched for the scotch when I got home. It was, as I suspected, full.   
  
The next morning was a different story. I woke up to find my head pounding. I got out of bed and stepped on the empty bottle of scotch. I nearly collapsed to the floor as the bottle rolled to the other end of the room. The alcohol did quite a number on my ability to stay steady though it failed to control my brain and my thoughts about Daphne. Something really bugged me about Bryce, more than that fact that he's dating my love. I just had to hope that Daphne finds out what this is before she gets in too deep.  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Daphne~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
I, Daphne Moon, have fallen in love. At least I think I have, it has all happened so fast. Bryce's firm transferred him to Seattle just two months ago. For two months I have been seeing Bryce at least twice a week. It really is wonderful to date a friend. I always knew I'd end up with one. You need to really know a person first so that you know what you're getting into. Of course, there is also a lot about Bryce I don't know, which just means that there is so much more to learn.  
  
Putting my own relationship aside for a moment my emotions turned to Dr. Crane, the younger one. I am getting really worried about him. He's been so depressed as of late. I wonder if something else happened between him and the Mrs. It just breaks me heart to see him so sad. To see a friend look so lost. Hopefully things will pick up for him.  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Niles~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
It was Saturday night and I was alone, again. I have not talked to my estranged wife in well over a month. I suppose I should give her a call, she is my wife after all. It was nights like this that really made me feel useless. To top it all off Frasier had a date tonight so I couldn't do anything with him.  
  
I sat down on my couch and looked around my apartment. I was bored and I was lonely. Oh, there were a lot of different things I could do; my heart was just not into any of it. I also knew that I didn't want to be alone, again. I called my Dad.  
  
"Hello?" Good, he's home.  
  
"Hi Dad."  
  
"Hey Niles! What's up?" In such a casual phrase I could hear his concern.  
  
"Oh, not much. Listen, Dad, do you have plans for tonight?"  
  
"No, not really. Why?"  
  
"Well, I just don't really feel like being at the Montana all alone, again." I heard a soft chuckle from the other end of the phone.  
  
"I know that feeling all too well. Come on over, son."  
  
  
  
I arrived just a little while later. Unfortunately it was Daphne who answered the door.  
  
"Oh, hello Dr. Crane. I thought you would be Bryce." I should have asked Dad if Daphne was still there. Though judging by his face he didn't expect her to still be home.  
  
"Big plans tonight?" I asked, wanting to kick myself.  
  
"Well, sort of. See, tonight's our four month anniversary and I have no idea where Bryce is, he said he'd be here an hour ago!" Daphne began to pace.  
  
"That is just awful, no one should treat you that way, no one." I walked over to Daphne and gave her a hug, ignoring all evil stares from my father.  
  
"Dr. Crane, you are such a dear. I'm sure he's just been held up with work, his load has been increasing tremendously over the past few weeks. Perhaps I should just try his office again -" And that is when the doorbell rang. Daphne practically flew to the door.  
  
"Bryce! Where have you been?"  
  
"Oh Daph, I am so sorry. I was at a meeting with a client and we ran into a few troubles. I tried to wrap things up quickly but it didn't work." The slime then moved in to hug my Daphne. I sat down and faced Dad; it was a much better sight.  
  
"Well, we can try to still make our reservations, goodnight all!" Daphne said, as she and Bryce existed through the door. I felt a sigh of relief but Dad didn't seem relieved.  
  
"That the fourth time he's done that. I don't like it." I was shocked to hear that come from my father's mouth. But that is all he meant to say. We then watched the movie that Dad was watching and he never spoke another word about Daphne.  
  
  
**Martin**  
  
I made the mistake of letting my son pick a movie after the first one we watched bombed. Well, it didn't bomb for me, I quite liked the Exorcist, Niles didn't. And it didn't help that he was coming up with psychological explanations for every single one of Reagan's possessed actions. I just wanted to scream at him "It's a movie!" and let that be it. Of course, he's my son who is going through a difficult time so I just sat there and bared it.  
  
As if letting him put down my movie wasn't good enough he needed something good to watch to "lighten the mood." He spent the next twenty minutes in Frasier's room looking for a good movie. He finally came out and threw his hands up in the air.  
  
"It's no use, they either remind me of Maris, make me think of Daphne, or miss Mom." Frasier's got to have a movie that excludes all three women, can't he?  
  
"I'm sorry son. I know how difficult this must be for you." Well, that's not entirely true, I have no idea how much he is in love with Daphne. I always assumed it was partly lust, I mean; she is a good-looking woman.  
  
"I just don't know why I do this to myself. Even when I was little I would always pick prizes that were completely out of my reach."   
  
"No, that's not true. You would always pick prizes you thought were out of your reach and then never try." He looked up at me with sad eyes then.  
  
"But in this case I cannot try, not now, not while she's with Bryce."  
  
"Niles, don't beat yourself up over this. Even if she wasn't with Bryce both you and I know that you wouldn't do anything." For a minute I thought he was going to be upset with me, instead he hung his head low.  
  
"You're right, I'm a coward." I was about to respond, to try to make him feel better, when Daphne came home. This was not good timing. Luckily she was alone.  
  
"Hello Mr. Crane, Hi Dr. Crane."  
  
"Hey Daph, where's Bryce?"  
  
"Oh, he has an early morning tomorrow so I didn't want him to walk me up."  
  
"Did your evening go well?" I was surprised that Niles had the strength to ask such a question. Daphne sure does have a spell on him; she can lighten up his mood, even when he's down in the dumps.  
  
"It went alright. Bryce seemed… distracted. It must be his work." Niles shot me a glance, I wish we knew for sure it really was just work. Niles doesn't trust the guy though and I can't say I blame him. Daphne then sat down next to Niles and put a hand on his shoulder.  
  
"How are you doing, Dr. Crane?" She asked sincerely, Niles looked like he would melt from her touch.  
  
"Not so good." He was enjoying her contact, her friendship. Usually it takes hours of prying to get him to answer honestly and instantly he seemed like he was willing to talk about his problems to her. This is definitely more than lust.  
  
"I don't know why you let that Mrs. Crane get to you, you deserve so much better." Daphne normally doesn't make comments about the family; she's usually polite until it hurts, at least with sensitive issues. I soon forgot what I was watching on the television.  
  
"Sometimes love is blind." Niles, answer her question, don't talk about her!  
  
"I guess it is. Just promise me you will always look out for your interests?" Her eyebrows arched as she asked her question.  
  
"I will try."  
  
"Well, that's all I can ask," Daphne then rose. "Goodnight all." And she left to her bedroom. Niles gave a satisfactory sigh.  
  
"You ok?" I asked him.  
  
"Yeah, I'm ok." He then rose and left me alone to wonder where all that had come from.  
  
  
**Daphne**  
  
It was good to see Dr. Crane again. I know how hard these past few years have been. Our little chat seemed to help him out which made me feel really good.  
  
My evening with Bryce, truth be told, had not gone well at all. His mind was somewhere else and our conversation was stagnant. It looked like we were not only loosing our relationship but also our friendship. In our long silences I started to think about Dr. Crane and his wife, was this what things were like for him? Of course they have been together for a longer period of time with more commitment but it was still something I could compare my problems with.  
  
I wanted to talk to him about my situation when I saw he was still here tonight but I couldn't bring myself to. Something was holding me back. I probably just wasn't ready to talk, or simply jumping to conclusions. It was just nice to talk to someone else going through relationship problems.  
  
I thought I would feel better in the morning, I felt worse. I looked out my window and expected to find rain and a gray sky, not a sun shining brightly over blue clouds. I thought about Dr. Crane again and realized I needed to talk to someone.  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Niles~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
Daphne was sure able to make me feel better. Just talking to her brightened my day. I went to work the next morning feeling like I could start taking control over my life again. Of course my conversation with Dad probably was part of the help.   
  
I finished with my last client of the day and was doing paper work. Frasier and I were going to go out for dinner that night, something that I was very thankful for. It had been a while since we had had a good "boy's night out." That's when there was a knock on my door.  
  
"Come in!" I called, thinking it might be Frasier.  
  
"Hello Dr. Crane," Daphne called as she timidly opened the door.  
  
"Daphne," I was completely surprised to see her here. I waved her in and that's when I noticed tear marks on her face. "Have you been crying?" That was all I needed to say, she burst into tears then and there.  
  
"Oh, Dr. Crane!" She said I reached out for her. She came into my arms and I held her close. She cried onto my shoulder as I rubbed her back. I could feel her body shivering in my arms. I wanted to make it all right but I didn't even know what was wrong.  
  
"Daphne, what's wrong?" I asked when she had started to calm down.  
  
"I'm sorry to barge in like this, I just thought that you would be able to help me out." I nodded and motioned for her to sit down, she did and I sat next to her. "You see, I'm having some problems with Bryce." Is it wrong that my heart skipped a beat?  
  
"What sort of problems?" I asked trying hard to keep my excitement out of my vocal cords.  
  
"Oh, things were going great but these last few weeks he's become distant, even cold," My fist clenched, how dare he treat her like that! I have no idea why my fist clenched; I may have only used my fist to punch something once, maybe twice in my entire life. "We had plans for tonight but he called and cancelled. He claims its work; I know there is something else going on here. For god sakes I've been friends with him for such a long time! How could he possibly think I wouldn't know that something's going on?"  
  
Daphne appeared to be finished speaking, though I wasn't quite sure how I was supposed to help her. "Daphne, why have you come to me with this?"  
  
"Oh," she chuckled, "I should make that clear now, shouldn't I?" I nodded my head and she continued. "You see, ever since things started to go bad, it's – it's reminded me of you, and Mrs. Crane." She spoke softly; obviously afraid she was bringing up conversation that I didn't want to pursue.  
  
"Daphne, it's alright. It's no big secret that my marriage is, well, not anything to brag about." I found myself truly smiling as I spoke this.  
  
"I just – well – how do you know when it's enough? How do you know when it's ruined beyond the point of repair?" She was looking at me with pleading eyes. Oh Daphne! You have no idea you've picked the wrong person.  
  
"I really wouldn't know," I spoke as I stood up and went over to my desk. "Maris and I are still married, legally. Personally we barely see or speak to each other." My hands gripped the edge of my desk. This was turning into therapy that I have successfully avoided, thus far.  
  
"Yet you still see no reason to officially separate, to divorce?" I turned and saw her innocent eyes piercing into me. Why was she measuring what to do based on me?  
  
"I see tons of reasons to divorce," had I just said that? "I guess, I guess…" Might as well admit it, finally. "I guess Maris is safe. Separated or not I still have the comfort of being a married man."  
  
"But even though you are separated you never see your wife. And because you are still married you aren't really seeing anyone else." Daphne was now standing and her poise, with her finger pointing into the air, reminded me of a detective on a case.  
  
"Yes, that may be true."  
  
"See, I don't know how you do it, Dr. Crane. I don't want that. I don't want to be committed to a man unless there is an actual relationship going on. You shouldn't either. There is someone out there that is right for you, you just need to go and find her." Ahh, but I have found her, haven't I?  
  
"What if she's already taken?" Why did I ask that question while looking directly into her eyes? She took a slight step back.  
  
"I – I don't know." Even Daphne was caught on that one.  
  
"I do thank you for your concern, however I'm not too comfortable with a chase."  
  
"I can understand that. However I don't think I could do what you have been doing. I need to confront Bryce about this. Thank you Dr. Crane." Wait, she's going to talk to Bryce? Does this mean she might soon be… available?  
  
"You know what, Daphne? You just might have given me the push I needed to pursue this woman."  
  
  
**Daphne**  
  
I left Dr. Crane's and went straight home. I gave quick hellos to Dr. and Mr. Crane, grabbed the phone and went into my bedroom to call Bryce at work.  
  
"Bryce McGee, how may I help you?"  
  
"Bryce, it's Daphne," I spoke sternly.  
  
"Daph! How are you?"  
  
"Not too good. Look, I need to know what's going on here. For the past few weeks you've been brushing me off and I won't stand for it anymore."  
  
"Daphne, please!" Bryce stammered on the other end of the phone. "I can explain, all of this. Tomorrow, at seven, I'll be at your place. You've got to let me explain, Daph, you've got to." The sincerity in his voice caught me off guard.  
  
"All right, see you then." I hung up, my head in a bit of a daze. Why did I just back down like that? I guess an explanation is called for. I couldn't help to feel a bit like a fool, like I was turning into Dr. Crane and he turning into Maris…  
  
No, no! Daphne don't go there. Let him explain tomorrow and then you can make correct assumptions. I willed my mind to drift elsewhere, it landed on Dr. Crane. He was in love with someone else, someone in a relationship. Why does everything seem to end up sour for him?  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Niles~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
I woke up with new hope. Just the thought that Daphne might, in fact, be single again sometime soon made my whole world seem better. I might have another chance to capture my princess and make her my queen.  
  
This newfound hope is making me corny as all hell. I decided not to let it bother me and went about my daily business. It took all my will to stop from planning how to make my move with Daphne. That surely has been my downfall in past proceedings. No, this time I'll act on the spur of the moment and I won't back down. I did, however, have to sit down, all the confidence was making my knees week.   
  
Daphne made it perfectly clear yesterday that I should find someone better. How would she react if she knew it was her?  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Martin~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
I have never seen Daphne so nervous and so upset at the same time. Her head had been on a paid vacation somewhere else all day. I was even able to get her to only do half of my normal exercises and she never lets me do that. Finally I couldn't take it anymore, I had to know what was going on.  
  
"Daphne, are you sure everything is all right?" She stopped while cleaning and paused as if she had to thoroughly think this through.   
  
"Honestly, Mr. Crane? No, I'm not." She then sat down with her head hanging low.  
  
"Daph, hey, what is it?" I said while turning off the television set.  
  
"It's Bryce. I think something's going on and tonight I find out what it is." Whoa, that's a hell of a load.  
  
"How do you know all this?"  
  
"I confronted him and he begged me to let him explain. Oh I don't know if I can handle all this!" The doorbell rang and Daphne answered it, though her body was already beginning to shake and I suspect a few tears falling. Niles was at the door, oh great.  
  
"Dr. Crane!" Daphne sobbed and went straight into his arms. I gave my son a good stern look; his face was a mixture between surprise and heaven. Luckily the concerned friend began to shine through.  
  
"Daphne, what on earth is wrong?" he asked while ending the hug to get a good look at her.  
  
"I, I confronted Bryce and he's going to talk to me today and tell me what's been going on." And now she's sobbing into his shoulder. Niles' face was complete concern and he began to rub her back. I took off my stern look; he seemed to be behaving on his own today. Does this mean he's over her? Nah, that can't be it.  
  
"It's ok, Daphne," my son began, "You'll be better off for knowing." She controlled her sobs and stood up.  
  
"I suppose your right. Will you stay? I want all the support I can get when he comes."  
  
"Of course. You should go wash up, show him the dynamite Daphne he's been missing." She smiled at him and then left to her bedroom.  
  
"Niles, are you feeling ok?" I asked once she was gone.  
  
"I'm fine Dad, why?"  
  
"Well, because you were acting like a real friend there, not a lustful puppy." He scrunched up his face at that.  
  
"I can behave around Daphne, Dad. Especially when she might soon be available."  
  
"Oh geez," so that's why, he might be able to finally win her. That's one thing I love about my son, he never gives up, even when he's too afraid to try for something.  
  
  
**Daphne**  
  
I followed Dr. Crane's orders and went to me room. I washed all the tears off my face and put on one of my killer dresses. I did my hair and make-up and when I looked in the mirror I thought I had done a good job. It was ten of seven; almost time to find out what Bryce has been up to. I took a few deep breaths and then went into the living room.  
  
Dr. Crane stood up the moment he saw me. "Daphne, you look magnificent." He always knows when to pay me a compliment. However I gave him a good look after he spoke, he was still looking at me. I guess I really did pick a good dress.  
  
The other Dr. Crane spoke up, having obviously been informed of what was about to be happening. "Daphne, would you like us to leave once Bryce arrives?"  
  
"No, no, Dr. Crane. I would like nothing of the sort. Please stay. Perhaps you'll be able to intimidate him," I said with a chuckle as the doorbell rang. "Oh dear, that'll be him."  
  
Dr. Crane went to get the door while the younger one came over to me and put a hand on my shoulder. "It will ok, Daphne." He said and then stepped back.  
  
Bryce entered the apartment looking nervous as all hell. Good, swine should sweat. "Hello all. Daphne, you look beautiful," he said. It just didn't seem as much of a compliment as the one Dr. Crane gave me earlier.  
  
"Hi Bryce, you ready to talk, finally?" I said, trying to keep my wits through an icy exterior. It's hard to see a long time friendship possibly crumble.   
  
"Yes, yes I am." He cleared his throat, walked halfway over to me, and then began to speak. "You see, the work load I had was increasing on me, tremendously so. Oh, I know you don't believe that, and it seems like a poor excuse but hear me out first, it'll all make sense." I nodded my head, still unbelieving, and he continued. "The Seattle branch is understaffed and all of us have been working double shifts just trying to make it all work. That killed me, Daph, part of the reason I took this job was to spend more time with you. And the hours are unbelievable; I can't work under so much pressure. My boss started to notice it too and he asked me if I wanted to be transferred back to London. Now I had to really think. It's nice over here and all but the job is so much better back in London and there I would be able to spend time with you but you wouldn't be there. So I thought and I thought and I finally came up with only one solution." Bryce became quiet at this point, I had no idea where he was going, that was, until he got down on one knee.  
  
"Daphne Moon, will you marry me?" A thousand thoughts went through my head at once. We've barely dated. We've been friends for years. Is he my true love? Do I love him? Do I want to move back to England? Do I want to leave the Cranes? But of course I love him, why else would I be so worked up over never seeing him…  
  
"Bryce," I said, he stood up shakingly. "Yes, I will marry you." He rushed forward and picked me up in his arms. I gave him a quick kiss and then began to speak again. "However, on one condition."  
  
"Anything you wish."  
  
"That we don't start planning the wedding for a while, just make sure we do work together."  
  
"That sounds like a wonderful plan." I looked around the room and suddenly my heart fell. Saying yes meant that I was leaving…  
  
"Congratulations, Daph," Mr. Crane said as he came over to give me a hug.  
  
"Yes, of course, Congrat's," the older Dr. Crane replied. I didn't see the younger Dr. Crane, for some reason he just left. His brother soon went after him while Mr. Crane got out some Champaign.  
  
  
**Niles**  
  
Ever have a hat dance done around your heart? Well, I have. I got myself all excited, I thought that I might finally have a chance to win Daphne and then this happened. He proposed instead and I had to watch the whole horrifying experience. I tried to control myself, to be able to congratulate them, but I couldn't. I quietly left the apartment and just sat down by the side of the door. I knew one of my family members would be out shortly. It was Frasier.  
  
"Niles, are you ok?" He spoke sincerely and squatted down next to me.  
  
"No." That was all I could manage to say.  
  
"Do you want to talk about it?"  
  
"No, not really but thank you for the offer." I then stood up and pushed the elevator. On the way home I picked up two bottles of scotch and hoped that they would do the trick.  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Daphne~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
I cannot believe that I am engaged. Shouldn't I be ecstatic? Happy? Thrilled? Instead I feel sad and odd. Something about this is not right. Of course that could be the fact that in just two short months I will be leaving Seattle, possibly forever. Leaving the loving arms of the Cranes. But I will be starting my life anew, marriage, perhaps even children. Still, something is not right…  
  
My mind drifted to Dr. Crane. He looked so crushed when I said yes. Why is that so? Perhaps it just reminded him of when he and Mrs. Crane became engaged. That's probably not it; he did say that he was in love with someone. Someone who was taken…  
  
All those glances. All those kind acts and the way he looks at me. All those times he's gone out of his way for me. Could I be that woman?  
  
No, of course not. What a silly thought, Daphne. Why would he fall for someone like me? I decided to let that thought go but it had already gotten underneath my skin.  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Niles~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
Never, ever visit your estranged wife while drunk. I don't care what the reasons seem to be at the time the result will conclusively be appalling. The two simply do not mix.  
  
It was around the halfway point on the second bottle of scotch that these thoughts started to roll into my head. I began to see my life in black and white. I knew that I would be crushed without my wife and without Daphne to brighten up my days. With her gone that would leave me with one last hope for happiness, to get my marriage back on track.  
  
Fate would have it that I had to finish the second bottle of scotch first and then head over to Maris'. I took a cab so I can't say I was completely void of senses. Although if I had drove perhaps I would be in a happy state right now at the bottom of some lake or smashed into some tree. Yes, that would be a much better fate.  
  
The luck of Niles Crane is in negative digits and it lowers even further when I have alcohol in my system. I arrived at Maris' place and wasn't inside five minutes before the whole staff knew I was intoxicated. I could see them scurrying about more fearful of the consequences of my actions then they have ever been of "Mrs. Crane." If only I had noticed their reactions while there and not simply in my back thoughts.  
  
Maris was, of course, concerned about my state. I know that I have painted her as a cold-hearted bitch, which she normally is, but she can show small amounts of affection when it is warranted. This was such a time.   
  
She asked me why I was there and I told her, in such awful grammar and clumsy words as I would never like to repeat, that I wanted her back. My attempt at being romantic with half a functioning brain was apparent as her eyebrow twitched due to her holding in laughter.  
  
My wife could not leave that question well enough alone but decided that alcohol was a truth serum, which for me it is, and decided to ask more questions when I was already at her beck and call. So she asked me why I wanted her back and without thinking, without realizing the consequences of my actions, without even acknowledging what was going on, I answered her: "Because I lost Daphne."  
  
Well at that point the help scuttled down to the basement, probably praying that Maris would not start a fire. Maris herself went white. If you have ever seen a pale woman turn white you know you are in for trouble. She began to scream at me, this woman who cheated on me with our psychiatrist was now calling me all sorts of filthy names. And I sat there, barely blinking at her. Truth be told I had no idea why she was so upset at the time.  
  
After an hour of yelling my Maris became tired, so she called a cab and kicked me out. I sit here now, on my couch, reading the letter that was stuck under my door this morning. Divorce papers, signed.  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Roz~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
Daphne had called me last night, insisting that I meet her at the café. So here I am, an hour before I need to be at the station, waiting for Daphne to arrive. Her voice last night was a little discerning, a mixture of happiness and torment. I had no idea that two extremes could be displayed in one voice; leave it to Daphne to accomplish such a feat.  
  
"Hi Roz, sorry I'm late," Daphne said as soon as she entered Nervosa.  
  
"No problem. I'm just glad your not standing me up like my last stream of dates are doing."  
  
"Oh Roz! Still having a dry spell?"  
  
"I'm a mother, what do you think?" She nodded her head at that. "So what's up? What did you need to talk to me about?"  
  
"Well, I have some good news. I'm engaged!" She tried to sound cheerful but her voice just went flat. Her rock, however, was gorgeous.  
  
"Daphne, I'd say that's great but you don't seem too happy."  
  
"Well, Bryce is being transferred back to London, so I'd be leaving in two months." Two months, wow. That's an awfully short time.  
  
"But if it's for the right guy then what's the matter. You can still come and visit us here."  
  
"I know, I know. But it just won't be the same. You know the Crane's, they're pains but you love them just the same." Ain't that the truth.  
  
"Well, is Bryce worth it?" Daphne looked down at her hands, that can't be a good sign.  
  
"I guess so. We're not up to the point of marriage yet, so it would be a long engagement. We have something that's good, it's just –"  
  
"It's just that you're not sure if it's 'the one.'" I finished for her.  
  
"Yes. I said yes to him because I think we will end up down that road if he were to stay here. Oh and I've known him for so long…" Her voice trailed off, I could tell something was going on in her head. "Roz, can I confide in you?"  
  
"Sure Daph, of course you can." Would I really be able to keep this a secret?  
  
"Well, last night I figured something out about Dr. Crane." Ooohhh, Frasier juice.  
  
"About Frasier?"  
  
"No, the other one." Niles? There's actually a secret that involves Niles?  
  
"Niles? What did you find out about him?"  
  
"It's more figured out. You see, I think he might be in love with me." The sincerity on her face caused me to burst out laughing.  
  
"Niles, in love with you!" I tried to control my laughter because Daphne was now glaring at me.  
  
"Haven't you noticed the way he looks at me?" Sure, but – "The way he's always has his hands out, knowing whenever I need the slightest help" Yeah, he does that, but – "And the way he always notices what I'm wearing?" Well, I always just thought he could be gay but I can see Daphne's point. Actually, now that I'm thinking about…  
  
"Oh my god, Daphne! I think he is in love with you!"  
  
"Plus he told me just the other day that he was in love with someone who wasn't his wife who was in a relationship. And when he saw me get engaged to Bryce he didn't even congratulate me, he just left." Niles does something un-gentlemanly? Whoa!  
  
"What are you going to do about this, Daph?"  
  
"Well, there's nothing much I can do. Oh, Roz, I am so worried about him. I never meant to hurt him."  
  
"Daphne, you did nothing wrong, you didn't even know."  
  
"True, it's just…" Her voice trailed off.  
  
"Daphne, push that out of your mind. If you want I'll talk to Frasier, see what he knows."  
  
"You think Dr. Crane would know something about this?"  
  
"We are talking about the Crane brothers, what don't they tell each other."  
  
"Good point. Oh, thank you Roz!" Daphne got up and gave me a hug, this must be really bothering her. She then left to get some coffee and I planned on how to have the most fun with Frasier as possible.  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Frasier~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
Roz seemed a little too perky when I arrived at work. I could tell by the gleam in her eyes that something was up. At our second break, after an hour and a half of her giving me one of her crocked smiles I decided that I simply could not take it anymore.  
  
"Alright, Roz, what's up?" I asked when she entered my side of the booth.  
  
"Why would anything be up?" She asked with a smirk, oh she had something all right.  
  
"Did you find some new gossip about work that you'd like to share?"  
  
"Not about work," she replied calmly. What does that mean?  
  
"Then about what then?"  
  
"Oh, I shouldn't really be talking about this now, should I?" She then went back over to her booth. Since when does Roz keep secrets? I got up and followed her.  
  
"Come on Roz, you know want to tell."  
  
"Your right, I do. But I'm just afraid it's something that you don't know. And if you don't then you'll be really upset with Niles and that wouldn't be a good thing." What was she talking about?  
  
"Come on Roz, like there is something about Niles that I don't know." She turned to me and shrugged.  
  
"Ok then. Just forget I said anything." She looked up, "twenty seconds." I went back to my booth, however I was dying to know what was going on. I could not wait until our next commercial break. And Roz's face had gone from a crocked smile to a sultry one; she knew what she was doing. Although after I accidentally hung up on the woman with a fear of rejection she decided enough was enough. We cut a commercial and she entered my booth.  
  
"Want me to spill?"  
  
"No, I'd like to hang up on more callers today so we can be become the Dr. Hang-up show!" She rolled her eyes at that one.  
  
"Yes or no."  
  
"Yes."  
  
"Is Niles in love with Daphne?"   
  
  
**Roz**  
  
Watching Frasier squirm may have been fun, but the changes his face made after I asked was hilarious. I wish I had a camera for this would have been the perfect pick me up after a bad date. He just looked at me, not blinking, and then blinking too much. Then his jaw dropped open but not words came out. Then his eyebrows lowered and his mouth closed, then opened, and then closed again. Then finally he got out some words but they were complete babble. He stopped, swallowed ten times, and then continued.  
  
"What?"  
  
"Oh, you heard me, is Niles in love with Daphne?"  
  
"Where did you hear that?"  
  
"One question at a time."  
  
"Well, umm," then in a soft voice, "yes he is."  
  
"Oh man!" So it was true!  
  
"Now how did you hear?" Oh, could I find a camera before I answer this? Nah, too suspicious.  
  
"Daphne." Frasier, who had now been standing, stood stiff as a board. His eyes looked like they were going to fall out of his head. I could hear the wheels in his head turning a mile a minute. A little quicker than the last time he produced a feasible answer.  
  
"Roz, how does Daphne know?"  
  
"She figured it out. After she pointed it out to me I'm surprised all of Seattle doesn't know by now."  
  
"Did she seem, upset?" By this or by her whole situation? Either way I knew I couldn't say.  
  
"No, not really." Frasier let out a huge sigh.  
  
"Good, then hopefully this will not ruin anything."  
  
"Even if it did she's leaving in two months Frasier. Why didn't the little weenie ever tell her?"  
  
"For the exact same reasons you called him a weenie." Oh, so Niles is chicken. Well, that made sense.  
  
"Roz, do me a favor, don't let Niles know that Daphne knows. He's taking her engagement poorly and this would just push him over the edge." As much as I hate to have to keep quiet, this one made sense.  
  
"No problem, you're on in ten." I went back to my booth and all I could think of was how awful this must all be for Niles.   
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Frasier~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
When I got to Nervosa that afternoon I saw Niles sitting at a table, drinking his late. I ordered mine and sat down beside him.  
  
"Hi Niles."   
  
"Hello Frasier," he sounded really depressed. I noticed he was staring at a piece of paper.  
  
"What is this?"  
  
"Divorce papers." When did this happen?  
  
"Your giving Maris papers?"  
  
"More like receiving them," he glanced up and looked at me, "she's already signed." Ouch! First Daphne, now Maris.  
  
"What are you going to do?"  
  
"Oh, I will eventually sign them. It's a clean split, Frasier. I'd be a fool to pass that up. Maris could send me through the cleaners if she wanted to and believe me, she has every right to." There's something here that he's not telling me.  
  
"Why does she have every right to?"  
  
"Let's just say that she knows about Daphne." Gracious!  
  
"Oh Niles, I'm so sorry." I touched his arm and could feel that he was shaking.   
  
"No, this is for the best. My marriage was in shambles, every one knew that. It'll be good to stand on my own two feet." I didn't believe him.  
  
"Are you sure?"  
  
"No." He got out a pen and signed the papers. "But there is no better way than this to find out.  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Daphne~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
I was cleaning up the apartment, still trying to sort through all my mixed emotions, when the two Dr. Cranes came home. As soon as I saw Niles I couldn't take my eyes off him, he looked so pale. Mr. Crane obviously noticed it too.  
  
"Niles, what's wrong?" Dr. Crane was practically being supported by his brother.  
  
"Well, Dad, I signed my divorce papers today." Divorce papers?  
  
"That's great son. Oh, I know it's hard now but things will get better, trust me."  
  
"Oh, Dr. Crane!" I said and went over to give him a hug. "I thought you were going to stay with Maris?"  
  
"I was but things didn't pan out that way." He looked so completely lost and I felt awful for it. Maris was his savior and he was in love with me. Well, I didn't know that for sure. Hopefully it wouldn't be me and he could still have a shot at his love.  
  
"Hey Niles," Mr. Crane began, "why don't you come down to McGinty's with me and we'll have a few good beers?"  
  
"Actually Dad, I think I'd prefer to be alone right now, could I take a rain check?"  
  
"Yes, of course." With that I watched that broken man leave the apartment.  
  
  
  
Roz finally called an hour later.  
  
"Hey Daphne!" she said.  
  
"Roz, things are not good," I couldn't keep this inside any longer.  
  
"What's wrong?"  
  
"Dr. Crane signed his divorce papers."  
  
"Whoa! You're kidding me!"  
  
"Please, Roz, tell me it isn't me that he's in love with." There was silence on the other end of the phone, my stomach began to twist and turn.  
  
"Ahh, Daph, I hate to be the one to confirm it for you, but he is." Oh bloody hell!  
  
"How could he be in love with me? What did I ever do to make him fall in love with me?"  
  
"Hey, sometimes it just happens." 'Just happens,' that's what true love is, that's what requited love is.  
  
"No, Roz, he can't be, he just can't be." I started crying, this was all too much for me.  
  
"Daphne, calm down, why is this bugging you so much?" That's a very good question, now isn't it? What would be a good answer…  
  
"Why is this bothering me? Why is this bothering me? It's bothering me because that man, that dear sweet man told me that he was holding on to his wife to help him cope. He made it clear that the only way he'd leave her is if he thought he had a chance with his love, with me. It's clear to me that she left him. How am I supposed to leave him in this state? Leave to England forever!"  
  
"Daphne, he'll survive. He's got a family to support him. You can still be his friend from England, can't you?" Yes, of course I can. But I can't see him from England; I can't hold him from England. I can't make things right for him from England…  
  
"You're right Roz. I'm just over analyzing. I think I just need a good night's sleep."  
  
"Good idea, call me whenever you need me, night Daph!"  
  
"Bye Roz." I hung up the phone in a blur. Dr. Crane was part of the reason I didn't want to go to England. Now what the hell does that mean?  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Martin~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
When things get bad they get ugly, and weird. Niles has been taking his divorce very hard; I can't say I blame him. I want to be there for my son but he's starting to shut everyone out. Luckily he did take me up on my McGinty's offer, he's coming over tonight and we're going to head out. Hopefully I'll be able to talk to him, really talk to him and help him.  
  
Daphne's also been acting strange. She seems on edge for some reason. Perhaps it's just the move coming up but I know better than that. There's something going on. Maybe that means she'll stay. Oh, I want her to be happy but I'll miss her around here. Although Bryce is a nice guy. I just wish I knew what was bothering her.   
  
She was getting dressed for her date when the doorbell rang, so I let Bryce in.  
  
"Hi Martin."  
  
"Hey Bryce, Daphne will be ready in a few minutes." I let him in and we both sat down.  
  
"Martin, can I ask you a question?" He seemed nervous; this guy sure gets nervous very easily. I nodded and he continued. "Have you noticed anything, different, about Daphne?" Geez, he sees it too.  
  
"Yes, I have. But I'm just a detective," we both chuckled at that. "I wish I could help you but I have no idea what it is."  
  
"Oh, but I do." The doorbell rang again and I got up to answer it. What on Earth was he talking about?  
  
"Hi Dad," Niles said.  
  
"Hey Niles," I let him into the apartment as Daphne exited her room.  
  
"Hi Bryce, Dr. Crane." She paused, surprised to see Niles. And then all the puzzle pieces began to make sense. It was only for a moment but Daphne and Niles' eyes were en-locked. There was a passion running across that room that I was afraid if anything walked in between it would be electrocuted. I feared for Eddie's life but he remained asleep on the couch.  
  
"Shall we go then?" Bryce asked Daphne. She snapped back to reality, appearing disillusioned. She nodded her head to Bryce, said a few soft goodbyes, and then the two left the apartment.  
  
As soon as they were gone Niles practically collapsed onto the couch.  
  
"What was that?" He asked, his eyes pleading with mine for an answer. How was I to answer this? Either way it was going to torment Niles further, I was sure.  
  
"Honestly?"  
  
Niles glared at me. "Yes honestly."   
  
"Remember that stare you complained about Daphne and Bryce sharing back at the beginning of their relationship?"  
  
My son gave me another glare. "Dad, how does that possibly relate to this?" He was being stubborn and clueless.  
  
"Do you remember that stare?"  
  
"Yes. I said it was a lust stare and you said it was a stare between two people who had just realized they had feelings for each other." He looked at me with annoyance. He didn't get it.  
  
"Yeah, well Daphne just gave you that look." One, two, three…  
  
"Oh my god!" And Niles began to hyperventilate.  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Frasier~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
When I arrived home I found my brother hyperventilating on my couch and my father trying to get him to drink a glass of water.  
  
"Oh my god! Niles, are you ok?"  
  
"I – am – fine!" He said through taut gasps.  
  
"Dad, how long has this been going on?" Dad looked at his watch.  
  
"Oh, only about two hours." Two hours, my god!  
  
"What has got him that wound up?" My brother, who was having trouble breathing, attempted to speak.  
  
"Daph – ne. Daph – ne - might –" Dad cut him off.  
  
"We just caught Daphne looking at Niles as more than a friend," he turned to Niles, "which doesn't yet mean anything!" Oh no, it's probably just due to knowing how he feels!   
  
I grabbed a cold cloth and pressed it to my brother's neck. Old child hood tricks sometimes are just the medicine that is required for he was finally able to breath normally again.  
  
"Thank you Frasier."  
  
"Hey, what are brother's for?"  
  
"What does this all mean?" Dad and I gave each other a look.  
  
"It's nothing to get worked up over," Dad said.  
  
"She has been concerned about you, going through your divorce and all." As I finished speaking Niles looked up at us.  
  
"I suppose your right. It was nice though, wasn't it? To be looked at that way by her." And then he got ready to leave.  
  
"Are you going to be alright?" I asked.  
  
"Surprisingly yes. I'm better for this experience. Dad, we will go to McGinty's, soon, I promise."  
  
"I understand, son. Drive carefully."  
  
"I will, goodnight." And then he left.  
  
"Dad, Daphne knows."  
  
"Well she knows something, that's for sure. When Niles and her shared that look I was afraid they'd set your apartment on fire."  
  
"No, Dad, she knows." I glared at my father and what I told him seeped in.  
  
"Aw geez, who told?"   
  
"No one, she figured it out."  
  
"Well, it wasn't that hard, was it?"  
  
"No, it wasn't." Before Dad and I could help ourselves we were laughing quite heartedly.  
  
"But I tell ya Frasier, she has feelings for him, too."  
  
"Are you sure that isn't just her knowing how he feels."  
  
"Positive." It was at this point that Daphne and Bryce returned home.  
  
  
**Martin**  
  
When Daphne came home she looked tired. Well, knowing that someone else is in love with you could do that. Bryce said he wanted to chat to her extended family for a while and gave her a kiss. Daphne then left us alone.  
  
"Hey Martin, can we continue that conversation from before?" Oh yeah!  
  
"We can but we think we've figured it out, at least part of it," I said.  
  
"What conversation?" Frasier asked.  
  
"Oh, Bryce and I were talking about Daphne's strange behavior," I responded.  
  
"That's right, you lads go first and then I'll chip in my half."  
  
"Bryce, I'm warning you, this isn't going to be easy."  
  
"Oh, I know." What exactly did he know?  
  
"Well, Frasier just told me that Daphne found out that Niles has a bit of a crush on her."  
  
"A bit? I'd say that's pretty well fledged." He knew?  
  
"Wait, Bryce, you knew about this?" Frasier asked.  
  
"Is Daphne not my fiancée?" He had a good point there. I didn't really want to say anything else, for all we knew for certain was that she knew Niles' feelings.  
  
"That's all we really know for sure." I said.  
  
"Come on, you mean to tell me you haven't noticed the looks she's been giving him?" Whoa!  
  
"Bryce, you're calmly telling us this?" Frasier asked.  
  
"It helps to be her childhood friend." I was so confused and apparently so was Frasier.  
  
"I'm a little perplexed by your statement," Frasier said.  
  
"Let me explain this whole thing to you fully, hopefully that will help. You see, neither Daphne nor I were really ready for marriage but we knew it could be a future possibility. I proposed because I wanted to make it real, to keep the relationship alive. We both knew that we would only get married if the relationship continued to thrive. Now I'm her friend, first and foremost. I noticed that she was hesitant to leave Seattle and I thought it was just you lads, being like a family to her and all. However I started to notice how she acted around Niles, in fact it was present in her speech as well. I know Daphne quite well and I know what her looks and speech patterns mean."  
  
"What are you saying?" He was being coy like my sons and I just wanted the facts.  
  
"Daphne doesn't realize it yet, but she's in love with him."  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~End of Part I~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


	2. Just a Stare, part II

_Summary: See part I. Also, unless you are a detective, or even if you are, you might want to read the first section before beginning this one for the sake of my writing making sense. For those that are like me and too lazy to refresh their memory there will be a "what has gone before" below.   
  
Disclaimer: I do not own these characters. They belong to the brilliant minds of Paramount and Grub St. This story is merely for the enjoyment of those who read it and nothing more. Enjoy!_  
  
**Just A Stare**  
Part II  
  
       By Laura Brown  
  
  
  
**Bryce**  
  
Sometimes it's friendship that can help a person through a potentially difficult time. I know I should be crushed by the fact that my fiancée is in love with another man. And I am in my own way. But it's not like she's done anything to me. Heck, she doesn't even know that she's in love with him. It's really hard to be angry with your friend for something they have no control over and are not even aware of. What she's got here is true love; I'm not going to stand in the way of that.  
  
After I told the Crane's that Daphne was in love with Niles it took both of them a few moments to process this. Finally Martin spoke.  
  
"And all those years you thought Niles was foolish to chase Daphne," he's gloating; yes, he will make a wonderful father-in-law.  
  
"You saw how foolish he acted, while married of all things!" I think I was witnessing a father-son fight here, maybe I can find a way around it.  
  
"Lads, must I remind you that that's past. We have more pressing issues here."  
  
"Like what?" Frasier asked me.  
  
"Well, like my upcoming move to London. I'm not leaving here without Daphne unless she is in Niles' arms. Which means we have one and a half months to get them together."  
  
"That should be easy," Martin said.  
  
"Easy for Niles maybe, but not Daphne. We have to make her aware of the fact that she is in love with him, while pushing me out of the picture. In order for her to fall I need to be gone but if I hurt her that will make things worse."  
  
"So what do you suggest?" Martin asked.  
  
"Well, I'm going to need all your help, plus some. And I've got a plan that just might work."  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Roz~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
My phone rang at eleven that night, waking up my daughter who had just fallen back to sleep.  
  
"This better be good!" I shouted into the phone while rocking Alice.  
  
"Oh, it is!" Frasier exclaimed over the other end of the phone. "Remember how Daphne knows about Niles' feelings?" Gee, did I not just tell you that earlier today?  
  
"Yes, Frasier."  
  
"Well Bryce is over here and he says that Daphne feels the same way!" Whoa! Bryce is initiating this?  
  
"Bryce?" I asked.  
  
"Oh, he says that he much rather see his friend happy and think of her as a friend to help him through this situation." Smart man. "Have you noticed anything on Daphne's part in relation to Niles?"  
  
"Only that she is thinking about him, a lot."  
  
"That's good." How is this good?  
  
"Frasier, what is going on here?"  
  
"We're coming up with a scheme to get those two together." Oh, I scheme. I like the sound of that.  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Daphne~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
When I woke up the next morning I had two Crane's smiling strangely at me. That's not good. One could mean anything but two means that they are both on to something. I nervously watched them during breakfast. They kept glancing back and forth. Bryce had spoken to them last night, what could he have possibly said?  
  
"Alright you two, fess up." I just couldn't take this anymore.  
  
"About what, Daphne?" Don't stare at me like that, Dr. Crane; I'm liable to rip those blinking eyelashes off of that innocent looking face of yours.  
  
"Oh come on, I know something's up, now spill." I turned to Mr. Crane; he's usually a little weaker.  
  
"Now Daph, there is nothing that Frasier or I could tell you, it's all up to Bryce." Bryce? What on Earth was going on here?  
  
"What more surprises could he possibly have after proposing and moving to England?" I stood up at this point, I needed some coffee. "As if I don't have enough going on right now I have a pending surprise?" I went to the kitchen feeling woozy. This was all just too much for me. A sudden relationship and then moving miles away from the place I had made my home. I just needed someone to talk to this about. I couldn't talk to Dr. or Mr. Crane, not with them gloating about something they're not going to tell me. I could call Roz but she would probably think it had something to do with Dr. Crane. Well, I guess that left Dr. Crane. He's always been such a help in the past.   
  
I started to feel better once I decided to go see him. Then I noticed that my hands were shaking a bit. For some reason I was becoming nervous.   
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Niles~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
The following day I was in a strange mix of heaven and hell. My pending divorce was still a soar point for me and the fact that my goddess was engaged did not make matters any better. Yet there was that stare, that exhilarating moment we shared between the two of us and only the two of us. In my dreams my head had run with the endless possibilities. They ranged from gloriously grand to horribly pathetic. Now I was slowly mastering the ability to drink from the experience without too many expectations.   
  
All steps forward were put on hold when I received a call from Daphne.  
  
"Dr. Niles Crane," I said as I picked up my phone.  
  
"Hi, it's Daphne," her voice shook in such a manner that I almost didn't realize it was her. Only almost. I, as usual, did not need her to speak her name.  
  
"Daphne, is something wrong?" She normally doesn't call me at work.  
  
"Well, I'm not quite sure." He voice trailed off. How can she not be sure whether or not there is a problem? Something deep must be going on, blurring her vision of the situation.   
  
"You're not sure?" I could do nothing until she clarified.  
  
"No, I'm not. Dr. Crane, do you think we could meet sometime and talk? I really could use a friend to talk to right now." She needs a friend and she's coming to me? Well, I'm not going to complain about that.  
  
"Sure Daphne, why don't you stop by my place later, say around five?" My heart started beating faster and my palms grew sweaty.  
  
"That sounds good, see you then, bye." She hung up before I had a chance to respond.  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Daphne~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
I had no idea why I was having trouble finding something to wear. I was just going to see Dr. Crane for some help, a little advice, right? There was no reason to be turning my closet inside out over this. No, that's not it, it's because I'm seeing Bryce afterwards. Yes, of course, the looks Dr. and Mr. Crane were giving me, that must be it. My stomach, however, disagreed with that decision.  
  
I continued looking through my closet when the look I had shared with Dr. Crane came back into my mind. I lost sight of the clothes before me and became, once again, entrapped in his eyes. I don't know what it was about them they just stole my breath away that night. It didn't rightly make sense.  
  
I glanced at my watch and realized I was going to be late. I grabbed the dress that was in my hands, a favorite dark blue dress of mine, and got myself ready. I was thankful that Dr. Crane wasn't there when I left but Mr. Crane turned out to be just as bad.  
  
"Hey Daph, where you off to?" he asked from his chair. I hesitated; I didn't want him to read this the wrong. But there wasn't a wrong way to read it, was there?  
  
"Heading out to my date with Bryce," I said casually.  
  
"I thought that wasn't until seven?" Damn that old man and his selective memory!  
  
"I was going to go out for a bit first." I moved towards my purse and coat.  
  
"Where to?" I was getting a bit flustered by his interrogations. Detective or not this is my life and there is not a murder trial going on here until I start poisoning your food.  
  
"If you must know I'm going to see how Dr. Crane is doing." I said at last.  
  
"Oh, have fun." And just like that he turned around and resumed watching his game. I left the apartment feeling more confused about what was going on than ever.  
  
  
**Niles**  
  
Daphne arrived at my place with a form of jitters that I have never seen before. She stepped in and looked around with wide eyes. I took her coat and we sat down. I noticed that she was fiddling with her engagement ring. My heart leaped to see her in such a state of torment, my dearest Daphne, what on earth is plaguing you?  
  
"Thank you for setting this up on such short notice," she spoke softly.  
  
"Daphne, it is no trouble at all. Please, talk to me." She looked up at me and our eyes met, once again. I caught my breath as she looked at me, into me. It was almost as if she thought the answers to her problems were in me. Eventually she moved her eyes away and began to speak.  
  
"It's just – well – to be perfectly honest I'm not sure why I am here." Daphne there is a reason why you are here you just, perhaps, don't realize it yet.  
  
"I find that hard to believe." She looked back up again, this time looking at me and not into me, thankfully. I love our stares but I don't think I could keep myself composed throughout another one.  
  
"How are you dealing with your divorce?" That's called stalling my dearest; you will get nowhere if you keep hiding from yourself. However I felt that she could benefit from my answers in some way. Oh, whom am I kidding, I did want to talk to someone about it.  
  
"Honestly?" I felt like I was looking at her like a scared child.  
  
"Yes, honestly," she replied, her voice soft and loving.  
  
"I've been better. My unexpected divorce from Maris has been, sudden, to say the least."  
  
"May I ask what happened?"  
  
"Remember how I told you that I had feelings for someone else?" I swear she took a gasp in at that moment, I must be seeing things. She then nodded and I decided to leave that gasp in the meaningless bin of my brain. "Well Maris found out about that."  
  
"Oh Dr. Crane! How awful!" She had a hand on my shoulder. I fought back the urge to do something irrational, like kiss her or tell her to leave Bryce.  
  
"It's for the best. Now, what about you?" I needed to get this conversation back on her and away for me, otherwise the path was going to be very treacherous.  
  
"I'm just rather confused. I mean, I should happy to be engaged, shouldn't I?" Don't plead at me with your eyes, it's sends my heart into a chaotic state. "But I just feel so torn. Truth be told I would love to go back to England, I have missed my homeland. And Bryce is a wonderful lad. But there is something holding me back here. Something that is begging me stay," besides me? "Oh, it might very well be your family, you've always been so good to me and I'd hate to leave to go so far away. I just – just…" Her voice trailed off and I knew that she had no more to say.  
  
"Daphne, it sounds to me like you need to find out what it is that is making you want to stay. There is a reason for this and once you find that out it will make everything seem so much clearer." She looked up at me and really thought about what I had said.  
  
"I think you are right." She stood up. "I should get going, would it be alright if I came back some other time, some other day, if I needed to talk?" She seemed, nervous, again.  
  
"You are always welcome here." She gave me a small smile, then a kiss on my cheek. Then she left as I sunk back down to my couch. How was I going to let her go across the ocean to England? So far away would mean no more meetings like this to brighten up my day. I let out a sigh and decided to get myself a drink.  
  
  
**Daphne**  
  
I left Dr. Crane's place early and it was beneficial for it gave me time to think. Seeing him had somehow made me feel better. And he was right; there was something specific that was creating the desire to stay in Seattle. The problem was, that something was him.  
  
I wasn't quite sure how and I was certainly not sure why, but Dr. Niles Crane was somehow keeping me in Seattle. I had to work through this but I didn't know how. I didn't feel right talking to Dr. or Mr. Crane about this. I couldn't talk to Niles, he was in love with me the whole thing would be too difficult for him. Perhaps Roz would be able to help. I decided to give her a call that evening.   
  
My date with Bryce was as usual. He talked about work more than usual this time. I assume it was because I was in another world. No matter how I tried I just couldn't bring myself to pay full attention to our conversation.  
  
"Daphne? Daph?" Bryce called out, bringing me back from one of my many mini-vacations.  
  
"Oh, sorry Bryce, I'm just awfully tired tonight." He gave me a smirk, a sad smirk if I ever saw one. I must really be worrying the poor dear.  
  
"Well, you'll have some time to catch up on that sleep." What does that mean?  
  
"What are you saying?"  
  
"I'm just saying that another guy quit today so my workload is increasing." Again? You are already working enough for three people! "I'm so sorry Daph, but we're just not going to be able to see each other as much." It was getting hard to move our relationship forward when we had so much distance. Distance was what our friendship was.  
  
"Can't you get them to go easy on you? Being newly engaged and all?" He shot me a strange glance and then continued.  
  
"I've tried every trick in the hat. It's only for a few months though, and then we'll be able to spend some real time together back home in England." Home, was England really my home anymore?  
  
"Bryce, I'm used to distance with you, but as a friend, not as a lover." I put my hands into his. He swallowed, hard, and then continued.  
  
"Well then maybe that's what we should do, pretend to be friends for this rest of our stay here in America." What? Was I being dumped?  
  
"Bryce, what's going on here?" I started to pull my hands back but he grabbed onto them and looked deeply into my eyes.  
  
"That's not what I mean. We have no real time to see each other right now and that's hard on a relationship. As friends that isn't a problem for us. Maybe if we fall back into friends' mode, just for the next few months, it'll make it easier for us. And you'll have more time to spend with your Seattle friends. Then we can start up again once we get to London." My stomach flipped as he made his suggestion, the problem was it felt like a bad and a good flip. I knew this was for the best though. We couldn't have any problems while pretending to be friends and this did give me more time with the Crane's and Roz.   
  
"Alright Bryce, I guess we could try that." He breathed a bit but didn't release his grip on my hands.  
  
"Remember, Daph, we're friends. That should get you through this difficult time."  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
I couldn't believe what was happening. I had never been more confused in my life and now my fiancée wanted to pretend to be friends for over a month. I just felt the floor slipping out from beneath my feet. I needed something stable, something to hold on to, to make things better. I didn't think I'd be able to find anything that could do that for me.  
  
My brain then drifted to Dr. and Mr. Crane's reactions this morning. They were happy about something that Bryce was doing. Why one Earth would they be happy about my fiancée practically dumping me for a month? Something was going on here that I was not aware of. I decided to call give Roz that call.   
  
"Hello?" Roz asked after I called.  
  
"Hi Roz, it's me."  
  
"Hey Daph! What's up?" She sounded happier than normal to hear my voice.  
  
"Oh Roz, everything is falling apart!" I couldn't help myself, I started crying.  
  
"Daphne, what's wrong?" The happiness had faded from her voice and it was replaced with concern.  
  
"You know how I've been so confused about whether or not I want to leave Seattle, right?"  
  
"Yeah."  
  
"Well it just keeps getting worse. Tonight Bryce told me that his work load was increasing and he wanted to pretend to be friends for the last month we're here."  
  
"That seems reasonable." Reasonable? My fiancée has just brushed me off and you think it's reasonable?  
  
"How can that be reasonable?" I practically shouted into the phone.  
  
"Oh, I know it's got to be hard, Daph, but if he doesn't have the time for you at least that allows you to not worry and be able to enjoy your time left here, right?" She did have a point.  
  
"But I don't mind that. I need stability. I need to have Bryce to help remind me why I am moving."  
  
"Really? I thought you didn't want to go?" She's been working with Dr. Crane for far too long, she's starting to psychoanalyze me.  
  
"Roz! You're turning into Dr. Crane!"  
  
"Which one?"  
  
"Frasier!" What was going on here?  
  
"Sorry Daph, you sounded like you needed some help."  
  
"I do, from a friend. If I wanted a shrink I have two I could go to, ok?" It almost sounded like she was stifling a laugh.  
  
"Alright Daph, calm down. I'm sorry." I took a few deep breaths at that.  
  
"I'm sorry Roz, I've just got a lot on my mind. Can I confide in you?"  
  
"Of course you can."  
  
"Promise you won't laugh."  
  
"I promise."  
  
"I don't know why, but I think part of the reason I don't want to go to London is because of Niles."  
  
  
**Roz**  
  
When Frasier came to me with this crazy idea I thought it was a bunch of baloney. Niles was in love with Daphne but Daphne in love with Niles? Come on! However I was witnessing proof that Bryce was right on the mark. She even called him Niles, no Dr. Crane to try to guess from.   
  
"Why is Niles keeping you here in Seattle?" Come on Daph, if you admit it things will be easy.  
  
"Oh, Roz, I wish I knew!" That's a desperate plea if I ever heard one.  
  
"Well, find out."  
  
"And how am I supposed to do that?" Time to put this scheme into affect.  
  
"Spend more time with Niles, see what is really there. Technically you and Bryce are on a break, use that. You've got to find out what's holding you back before you go, Daphne. That's the only way you'll be able to be satisfied about your decision."  
  
"Are you suggesting that I date Dr. Crane?" Well, duh. Brownie points to you for picking that up and making the romantic leap.  
  
"Not exactly date, but hang out with him. I'm sure he could use a friend to help him through his divorce."  
  
"But Roz, he's in love with me, won't that be leading him on?"  
  
"Of course not. He has no idea that you know." Don't be stubborn.  
  
"I guess it could work."  
  
"Good. Oh, and keep me informed on what's happening."   
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Bryce~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
My sublet was quiet that evening without Daphne around. I dropped her off early claiming that I had an early meeting. A meeting that I did not have. I just knew that if this plan was going to work I was going to have to see her as minimally as possible. This was for two reasons, the first was for her to make some distance between us to let her feelings flourish; the second was for my own sanity. I may be doing this for her but I still loved her. Dinner tonight was almost impossible for me to get through. I had to push her away when I didn't want to.   
  
The friends business was more for me than for her. I just hope it works; I'd hate to be wrong about something this drastic. Who knows, maybe somebody else will quit and I'll get his load, then this next month may not see as detrimental.  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Frasier~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
I met my brother at the café to attempt to put this scheme into action. I wasn't sure it was going to work as well as Bryce hoped. I also wasn't sure it was entirely wise. Niles was in a fragile state at this moment. I didn't want to goad him towards Daphne only to drive the sword deeper into his heart. But on the other hand she might just be the medicine he needs even if they don't end up together.   
  
When Niles finally entered Nervosa he seemed surprisingly stable.  
  
"Hello Frasier," he said to me and then ordered his coffee.  
  
"Hi Niles. You're holding up quite nicely."  
  
"As a matter of fact, I am." He let out a small chuckle at that. It was certainly nice to see my brother in good spirits but I wasn't sure why this was so. I leaned towards him.  
  
"Alright Niles, what's changed?"  
  
"Frasier, you are unveracious. Nothing has changed; I am still a divorced man without Daphne." And yet my brother smiled as he mentioned her name.  
  
"But?"  
  
"Oh, alright. Daphne's been coming to me for advice lately. It's been nice to have her around, to have her company. I know it's only temporary but frankly I'm enjoying what I have." Hhhmm, this makes my job in this conspiracy immensely easier.   
  
"Why don't you spend more time with her then."  
  
"How do you propose I do that?"  
  
"Well, I've heard from Bryce that he has very little time to see Daphne these days. I'm sure this must be hard on her. If you were to do things with her I'm sure it'll keep her from getting lonely and give you a chance to maximize your time with her before she's departed." My brother took a sip of his coffee and really thought about what I was saying.   
  
"Won't Bryce be upset with that?"  
  
"Nonsense, he's already asked Dad and I to spend more time with Daphne."  
  
"You know what Frasier, that might just be a good plan."  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Daphne~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
I was having a hard time approaching Dr. Crane. I so wanted to spend more time with him, hoping that it would help clear my clouded head. I just couldn't come up with a way to make my move. And that by itself was bothering me. I normally have no problems with stuff like this. All of a sudden I'm beginning to feel like a fish out of water, I'm scraping for any sense of reality and permanence. I don't like being out of control.  
  
Turns out I didn't have to be the one to come to him, for he came to me. A few days after my short-term distance with Bryce started Dr. Crane came over to the apartment.  
  
"Hello Dr. Crane." I said as I let him in. "What brings you here."  
  
"Hello Daphne." He seemed to have a skip in his step. "I'm actually here to see you."   
  
"Me?"  
  
"Yes," He seemed confident but his eyes showed that he did have a few jitters. Noticing that my stomach did a flip. Why was he affecting me so? "I know that you are only going to be here for a short time more and decided I wanted to spend some time with my friend." Oh Dr. Crane, but you think of me as more of a friend, don't you?  
  
"That sounds lovely, especially since Bryce doesn't have a whole lot of time to see me these days."  
  
"Oh?" He didn't seem at all surprised.  
  
"Yes, his work loads increased again but you don't seem surprised." His face turned a nice shade of red and he glanced down at the floor.   
  
"Well, umm, Frasier sorta mentioned something about that to me." I had to chuckle at his gullibility.  
  
"It's alright, Dr. Crane, I could use the company." His face perked up at that.  
  
"How does dinner sound?"  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Martin~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
When I came home from walking Eddie I realized that the plan had already been started. I was faced with a giddy and nervous Niles and Daphne. All right, time to meddle.  
  
"Hi Dad!" my son exclaimed happily.  
  
"Hello Mr. Crane how was your walk." Daphne asked with a curious smile on her face.  
  
"It was fine, what's going on here?"  
  
"What makes you think something's going on here?" Daphne said while moving to fix some of Frasier's pillows.  
  
"Well, for starters, conversation halted as soon as I entered the room." Niles and Daphne looked to each other and then Niles spoke.  
  
"I'm just taking Daphne out for a friendly dinner," you think it's going to remain friendly? "That's all."  
  
"That's great." I said and sat down in my chair.  
  
"You really think so?" Daphne asked. "You don't think Bryce would mind?" Oh Daph, yeah, he would but he's expecting you to do just this.  
  
"Bryce has asked us to keep you busy and I'd prefer it if that wasn't accomplished through Frasier making you clean." That got her to relax and laugh. Niles got up to leave.  
  
"I must be going, I'll see you later?"  
  
"Yes, see you then, bye." And then Daphne closed the door behind Niles and let out a small sigh.  
  
"It's gotta feel good to get out, huh Daph?" I asked, but she didn't seem to hear me. Her eyes were lost somewhere else.  
  
"What was that Mr. Crane?"  
  
"I was just saying that it must feel good to be getting out."  
  
"Yes, it does. I was afraid I'd turn into a recluse this next month. Although I do have packing to do. It's strange, though. I just can't seem to bring myself to start." Well, you're not leaving so maybe that has something to do with it.  
  
"Big changes are hard sometimes."  
  
"Oh, it's not that." And then she stopped suddenly and glanced up at me nervously. "I mean, it's just hard to leave here not so much the change." Come on Daph, who are you fooling?  
  
"Uh-huh." She glared at me.  
  
"Old man, do you have something to say?"  
  
"Nope."  
  
"Good." And then she got up and left to her room.  
  
  
**Daphne**  
  
I went to my room and lay down on my bed. I just couldn't shake the feeling that something was going on here. I knew that Mr. Crane knows about Niles' feelings for me and yet he didn't seemed concerned at all about us going out to dinner. Well, I guess two friends can just go out and have a good time, right?  
  
Who am I kidding; it's more than just friends, for both of us. He's managing to captivate me in ways that no one else has. But just because I see him as more than a friend doesn't mean it goes much father beyond that, does it?  
  
Oh dear, my head was starting to spin. The worst part was that I knew I had the answers inside me, I was just too darn afraid to look.  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Niles~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
For the rest of the afternoon I debated on whether or not to get Daphne flowers for our "date" that evening. I did want to do something nice, to make her feel special. I omitted the idea of roses, which has every right to scare her. I decided on something simple and picked up a single lily for her. Nice but not romantic, a perfect fusion.   
  
I arrived at my brother's place in high spirits. I was finally able to do something truly nice for Daphne without compromising my own integrity in the process. My father answered the door.  
  
"Hey Niles, Daph's still getting ready." He said as he let me in.  
  
"No problem, I can wait." My father noticed the flower and gave me a smirk; I didn't wait for him to make a comment. "I thought it would be a nice gesture, it's not roses." He just shook his head and sat down.  
  
"It is a nice gesture Niles." What did that mean, I could have sworn he was condemning me for the flower just two short seconds ago.  
  
"Dad?" I asked him, raising my eyebrows as high as I could.  
  
"It just surprised me, that's all." I didn't get a chance to interrogate my father any further for Daphne then entered the room. She was wearing a gorgeous black dress. It was very elegant, not meant to be sexy but still had that affect when it was placed on her. I stood up and handed her the lily.  
  
"I thought you could use some cheering up." I explained as she looked at me questioningly.  
  
"Dr. Crane, this is beautiful, thank you." She gave me a kiss on the cheek then went to put the flower in some water. Frasier then entered the living room.  
  
"Ahh, about to take our Cinderella to the ball?" he asked. I glared.  
  
"If that's the way you chose to think about it, then yes." Daphne returned from the kitchen.  
  
"Shall we?" she asked me.  
  
"We shall, bye Dad, bye Frasier." And then we left for the restaurant.  
  
  
  
I was amazed at how much Daphne and I had to talk about. We didn't seem to have a dull moment. Around the time our main course arrived Daphne looked up at me with a quizzical expression.  
  
"Dr. Crane, don't you find it quite ironic that the two of us are here, at this nice restaurant, as friends and yet I'm still calling you by your last name?"  
  
"I've been trying to get you to drop that act with me for years." She seemed to think for a moment, almost as if it took courage to say what she was going to say.  
  
"Then would it be ok if we dropped formalities?" She asked that question as if she really thought I would mind.  
  
"Daphne, that is more than acceptable. I've hated having you call me Dr. Crane all these years. Niles would be so greatly appreciated." She smiled at me but I sensed that she was nervous. Why on earth would this make her nervous?  
  
"Alright then, Niles it is." We ate in silence for a bit as I drank in the sensation of her referring to me by my given name. Once I began to resort back to reality I noticed that she appeared timid, that won't do.  
  
"Daphne, is everything alright?" She looked at me, almost startled.  
  
"It's just that I always had me rules about how to deal with my clients family. Part of that was to always keep formalities so that no lines accidentally got crossed."  
  
"Daphne you are only here for a few short months more, and you know that we all think of you as part of our family. So please, don't let this bother you. Are you going to keep calling us all Crane's when you visit or call from England?" That got a chuckled out of her.  
  
"No, I suppose not. But until then I am still your father's physical therapist first and foremost."  
  
"No, you're our friend first and foremost." I reached across the table and laid my hand on top of hers, gave her a quick squeeze and then returned to my meal.  
  
  
**Daphne**  
  
This wasn't going well at all. I mean, it was going well but it wasn't going well. I don't know what possessed me to want to call him Niles instead of Dr. Crane but that was not my best move at all. I soon realized more about this whole situation than I thought I rightly should.  
  
I had always set up the formalities as a way to keep myself in my place. The main reason, which I didn't mention, was to prevent any romances. I knew that it would be a bad occurrence to get involved with a client or a client's family member. I was sitting here, breaking all my rules.  
  
Well, of course I hadn't broken anything in reality, just on the inside. By dropping the Dr. Crane I dropped the formality, the barrier between us. As soon as I did so I unlocked the trapped door inside my heart. A tidal wave full of emotions hit me all at once, making me quite dizzy. When I finally looked up at him, at Niles, I realized what exactly it was that was keeping me here in Seattle.  
  
I was in love with Niles Crane.  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Frasier~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
Dad and I took turns being in the living room to wait for Daphne to arrive home. We knew that two of us to talk to might be a bit much for Daphne and decided that one might get her to talk, which was exactly what we needed. I happened to be sitting on the couch when Daphne arrived home.   
  
At first she didn't see me, she came in and leaned against the door, lost in her own little world. Then she moved towards the coat rack, that's when she saw me.  
  
"Dr. Crane!" She exclaimed, one hand over heart. "I didn't see you sitting there."  
  
"Well, one does blend in without the sound of Dad's TV playing in the background." I laughed and she gave me a weak smile. "So, how was dinner?"  
  
"Dinner was alright." She spoke as she made her way to her room.  
  
"Just alright? It must have been nice to get out of this apartment." She stopped and turned towards me.  
  
"Yes and no." She was twirling her engagement ring.  
  
"How is that?" I asked in my best 'talk to me' voice.  
  
"Dr. Crane, I – oh, I can't talk to you about this!" She turned around and started for her room again.  
  
"Daphne, what's wrong?" She stopped but did not turn around. "Please, something is obviously troubling you, let me help." She turned and faced me.  
  
"I don't know if you can."  
  
"I can try, can't I?"  
  
"Well, is it wrong for someone to set up formalities in relation to those whom she works with?" Daphne took a few steps towards me.  
  
"I don't feel there is anything wrong with that, it's a personal choice." She glanced down at her hands and didn't glance up again until after she had started speaking.  
  
"What if – what if these formalities are set up as a precaution, to keep distance between the client and the worker and then later there is a – desire – to reduce this distance." Oh, this scheme was working after all. It sounds like our Daphne is falling for Niles. But she has her reservations, I better be careful with this.  
  
"Oh, Daphne. You know that we all see you as a friend, as part of this family. For god sakes you've been an honorary Crane for years." She finally gave me a small smile.   
  
"So it's not wrong to have feelings for you lot?"  
  
"No, of course it isn't. You told us to call you Daphne from day one but never allowed us to tell you to call us by our first names. Please, do so now. You are a friend and that friendship is more important than anything you do around this apartment." She gave me a bigger smile at that.  
  
"Oh, Dr. Crane," she said while coming towards to give me a hug, I stopped her.  
  
"Please, call me Frasier." She stopped, suddenly. I realized that she was, in fact, only talking about Niles. I had managed to help her without stepping on her toes. I smiled inwardly to myself. Daphne only paused for a moment, then she moved in to give me a hug.  
  
"Of course, Frasier. Thank you so much." I hugged her back.  
  
"I'm here for you Daph, anytime you need me."  
  
  
**Daphne**  
  
My conversation with Frasier was a bit unexpected. I never thought about dropping formalities with Frasier and Mr. Crane – I should refer to him as Martin now, shouldn't I? The thought just never occurred to me. With Niles it was always a conscious move. Calling Frasier by his first name didn't alter anything, but it did when it pertained to Niles.  
  
That meant I was deeper into him then I had previously thought. But none of this mattered, right? I was engaged now and I loved Bryce. I did love him, didn't I?  
  
Yes, of course I did love him, but it just wasn't the same as the feelings I had for Niles. And how could I leave him to run off with someone that might not end up being the right person for me? What if Niles and I didn't work well together at all? Then I'd ruin my relationship with Bryce for no reason.  
  
I simply had to see Niles more. Perhaps date him without dating him. Oh dear, isn't that what Roz had suggested in the first place?  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Roz~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
I was taking my break from work at Nervosa when Daphne came in. I watched how she was behaving, it was a different Daphne then I had ever seen. Her confidence seemed to be shot and it was obvious that something was going on. She didn't even notice me at first.  
  
"Daphne!" I called out. She turned towards me startled.  
  
"Oh Roz! I didn't see you there." She sat down and gave the waiter her order.  
  
"So, how are things going?" I asked, hoping she'd get the hint that I wanted to know about Niles.  
  
"Things are just getting more screwed up by the second," she exclaimed, throwing her hands on the table. "I went out with Niles the other night and it's just made things worse."  
  
"Worse, how so?"   
  
"Roz, I…" Her voice trailed off and she simply stared at me. I could tell she was thinking. Finally she opened her mouth again. "I really can't talk about this."  
  
"Why, did he say something to you?"  
  
"No, it has nothing to do with him. It has to do with me." With her? What is it Daph! Tell me!!  
  
"Come on Daph, you said you'd talk to me."  
  
"I know, I did. I just, can't talk about this right now. I'll get back to you, ok?" And then her coffee to go arrived and she departed. I put my head in my hands. I couldn't tell whether this plan was working or not.  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Daphne~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
I stopped by Niles' place that evening. I needed to see him again, to see how I would react. I was nervous as all hell but I knew it was something I needed to do.   
  
"Daphne!" He moved back to let me in. "What brings you here?" I stepped inside.  
  
"Well, you did say I could stop by if I needed to, right?" I turned to face him and had to restrain myself from staring into his eyes.  
  
"Of course, what's the problem?" Oh dear, I forgot to come up with a reason.  
  
"Can't I just come by to hang out?" He looked at me questioningly and then motioned towards the couch.  
  
"Of course, you always can." We sat down in silence as I fidgeted with my ring. I thought I was just twirling it around until I realized that I had taken it off and placed it on my right hand. I quickly placed it back on my left where it was supposed to be. I needed to talk but could I really to talk to Niles about this?  
  
"Daphne, are you sure nothing's the matter?" I glanced up to see the concern written all across his face. Oh dear, in trying to help myself I was putting him through such torment. But would telling him what's wrong really help?  
  
"Well, Niles," a shiver went down my spine when I said his name, "I'd be lying if I said that nothing was wrong. However, I'm just not sure that I can talk about this right now." He placed a hand on mine. Oh dear, could he tell I was shaking? Or was part of that him?  
  
"Daphne, you need to do what is right for you. Sometimes company is enough. I've had plenty of patients were it takes them time to be able to speak, be it with me or with a specific loved one." I moved my hand so that it was holding his and we sat in silence. Eventually I placed my head on his shoulder.  
  
"You are such a dear, you know that, don't you?" I could feel him nod his head. He brushed a strand of hair away from my face and my eyes closed involuntarily. This man could do so much better than Maris. "You could have any woman you wanted if you just gave her a try. Don't sell yourself short, you're too good for that." What was I saying? I knew whom he wanted.  
  
"As nice as those sentiments are, Daphne, I don't really think I can." I turned to face him and found myself inches from his face. My brain, which has been working on over drive for weeks, suddenly shut off. I was not aware of a conscious thought in my head; only how close Niles was to me.  
  
"Yes, you can…" my voice trailed off as my eyes met his. I no longer had the control to keep from staring into his eyes. At such a short distance our contact was in a lock. Neither one of us had the power, control, or the will to pull away. Pulling closer was an all too different story.  
  
My brain began to slowly come back to its senses when it realized that I was slowly moving closer to Niles. Of course, he was also moving slowly closer to me. My brain, ironically, had nothing to say. My heart, however, was the force pulling me forward. In a few short moments our lips met sending an exhilarating chill down my spine. My brain suddenly decided that it had something to say and told me that I should stop, that this was wrong. That I was leading him on and that I was engaged. I, however, could not listen. The feel of his lips against mine was enough to counteract all the yelling that was going on in my head. I started to dread the moment when we would part. Partly because I liked the sensation and partly because I would probably have some explaining to do. I knew that moment could not be avoided for long.  
  
As slowly as we moved together we began to move apart. We moved apart to a greater distance then we had been at first. Our eyes locked again, this time asking questions that were not being answered. I tried to think of what I could say to make this situation right but I couldn't come up with an answer. I knew I had to get out of there and I hated myself for it.  
  
I broke our stare and struggled to conjure words to come to my mouth. Finally a few came.  
  
"I'm – I'm sorry." I said while rising. "I really must be going." I turned to look him in the eyes. "Please forgive me." And then I left.   
  
  
**Niles**  
  
I was more confused then I ever have been in my life. I know that Daphne has been having some problems of her own but I never expected her to kiss me. I had no idea how to interpret that. It could mean that I was involved in her problems some how or I could simply be a crutch, a release from the issue at hand.  
  
That kiss was wonderful though. It was a real kiss, filled with passion. I couldn't imagine someone kissing like that for false pretences but I have heard of it to happen. I was trying so hard to keep myself levelheaded and I knew I was going to fail.  
  
I needed to talk to someone, someone who could snap me back to my senses. I decided that Frasier wasn't enough and called Dad. I got my brother instead. He told me that Dad was at McGinty's. I remembered that I still owed Dad a trip there and decided to see if I could find him. I did so but not before warning Frasier that Daphne would be in a state when she arrived home. I successfully avoided all questions, though I am not sure how, and left for McGinty's.  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Martin~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
I was at my bar, having a beer and watching the game when something completely unexpected happened, my son showed up. One of my friends noticed him first.  
  
"Hey Marty, isn't that your son?" I turned around.  
  
"Which one?"  
  
"Niles." I looked harder, sure enough, there he was. Standing at the door. I waved and he came over to me. I noticed that he looked pale and became worried.  
  
"Hi Dad," he said meekly.  
  
"Niles, what's wrong?" He glanced at me while getting on the free stool beside me.  
  
"What makes you think something's wrong?" He asked in a shaky voice. I glared at him.  
  
"Are you here to see me or do you just need a beer?" I asked.  
  
"Both." Something was definitely wrong. I got him a beer and he took a long sip.  
  
"What happened, son?" I asked him. He looked up.  
  
"To be honest, I'm not sure myself," he said with a slight chuckle.  
  
"Do you want to talk?" He shook his head in affirmation.  
  
"It was to do with Daphne." Oh no! Has the plan backfired?  
  
"What happened?"  
  
"She – we – kissed." That doesn't sound like a backfire to me but that can't be all.  
  
"And?"   
  
"And then she left."   
  
"Why did she kiss you?"  
  
"I – I don't know." Ahh, Daph's still working through this. But what can I tell Niles?  
  
"How do you feel about this?"  
  
"I just wish I knew what was going on here. I thought we were just hanging out, as friends. And perhaps that is all that is really going on. But then why did she kiss me?" He absent-mindedly touched his lip. How can I answer that?  
  
"Maybe she has feelings for you?" He shot me a glance.  
  
"Aren't you supposed to talk some sense into me? Make me realize that this was all just a mistake, a fabrication of my imagination? Yell at me for letting this happen?" I would, if I didn't know that she loves you back.  
  
"No, you're not off the mark this time." He gave me a hard look.  
  
"Dad, what's going on here?"  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Daphne~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
I arrived home in a blur. I was lucky enough to fight off tears for the drive home. Though once I was left alone in the secluded elevator all restraints fell to the side. When I entered the apartment I couldn't even see clearly to tell whether or not I was alone.  
  
"Daphne, are you all right?" Well, turns out I wasn't alone; Frasier was by my side instantly.  
  
"I'm, I'm fine." Like he would actually believe that?  
  
"Come on, sit down and talk to me." We sat down on the couch though I didn't feel like talking.  
  
"I really don't want to talk now, Frasier." I said while sniffling, he handed me his handkerchief.  
  
"Did something happen with Bryce?" At the sound of my fiancée's name a wave of guilt came over me and I burst into tears again.  
  
"Oh god! I am a horrible person!" I shouted.  
  
"Daphne, what happened?" I was wiping away my tears and could finally see a halfway clear image of the concern he had for me.  
  
"I – I'm in love with your brother." Oh dear, did I really just say that?   
  
  
**Frasier**  
  
It seemed this scheme has just about played itself out. However Daphne's state was not of happy woman in love but of tormented woman. There must be more to this situation.  
  
"Daphne, is that all that's bothering you?" She looked up at me.  
  
"No, it's not."  
  
"Well, if it's Bryce you are worried about –" She cut me off.  
  
"Oh god! I hadn't even thought of Bryce!"   
  
"What happened?"  
  
"I – I kissed your brother." So? "And then I just left, I couldn't talk to him, couldn't say anything." Now she's sobbing again. This was getting out of hand. I needed to get Bryce back into the picture.  
  
"Daphne, I think you need to relax. Go to your room, wash your face and try to clear your head. There's something I need to do." Thankfully the poor dear was too confused to question my actions. As soon as she was gone I called Bryce.  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Bryce~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
I had had a lonely couple of weeks without Daphne around. I was contemplating calling her up soon and finding out how she was doing, not wanting to push her out of my life completely. That's when I got a call from Frasier.  
  
"Hello?" I said into the phone.  
  
"Bryce? It's Frasier," I could hear in his voice that something was up.  
  
"What's wrong?" He gave me a small chuckle.  
  
"It's that obvious then?"  
  
"Rightly so," I replied.  
  
"Well, it seems our plan has hit the fan, so to speak." I took a few deep breaths; I was either in or out, right or wrong. At least I would win and lose both ways.  
  
"Verdict says?"  
  
"You were right about Daphne, however, it's running the risk of turning into something ugly." I lost. Surprisingly I wasn't as upset as I thought I would be.  
  
"What happened?" Frasier then proceeded to tell me what had transpired. It was difficult to listen to but I knew what needed to be done. I told Frasier I would be right over.  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Niles~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
I stared at my father for a long time. He wasn't condemning my actions, like he normally does. In fact, he hasn't condemned my actions for a few weeks now. And now he's telling me that I'm not wrong for having kissed Daphne…   
  
"Dad, what's going on here?" I asked a second time, Dad was shifting in his seat, something was up.  
  
"Now, Niles, don't get mad." Nothing is good when it has to begin with that sentence. "But you've been involved in bit of a scheme." A scheme? What sort of scheme?  
  
"Dad?" He looked at me and took a gulp from his beer before continuing.  
  
"You see, this whole idea of you and Daphne spending more time together has been set up purposefully." What? A rage I never knew existed began to build inside of me.  
  
"You mean none of this was true? Just a pity Niles moment?" Dad opened his mouth to speak but I cut him off. "What are you doing now, paying Daphne to not only help you out, clean Frasier's apartment, but to kiss me as well?" Anger was the only thing that was keeping me from falling apart.  
  
"No, Niles, you've got this all wrong. Daphne's –"  
  
"Save it!" I shouted as I left the bar.  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Daphne~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
I followed Frasier's orders and went to me room to wash my face. Surprisingly it did help a bit. Afterwards I just stared at myself in the mirror. I was trying so hard to make things easier on myself and it was just getting worse.  
  
I heard the doorbell ring and thought it might be Niles. I knew that he deserved an explanation and I thought I could benefit from it as well so I headed out into the living room. I was surprised to see Bryce.  
  
"Bryce," I said while entering the room. What was he doing here? I turned towards Frasier. "You invited him here after what I told you?" Did he really want me to break two hearts in one night?  
  
"Now Daphne, there is something that we need to tell you," Bryce spoke, his hands shook. What was going on?  
  
"What could you possibly have to say?" I asked, he hadn't even seen me in weeks.  
  
"Well, for starters my work load hasn't increased at work." My brain went numb and I collapsed onto one of the dinning room chairs.  
  
"What?" was all I could manage. Bryce looked towards Frasier for help so he began speaking.  
  
"You see Daph, you've been involved in a scheme. In fact, you and Niles have been involved in a scheme." Bloody hell! What was all this?  
  
"I don't understand." Bryce came over to me and sat down.  
  
"Daph, I've known you for a long time, right?" I nodded. "And I know a lot about you, right?" I nodded again. "I noticed that – it was possible that – you might have some feelings for Niles" Wait, he noticed that? "And I just couldn't see making you leave Seattle if he was right for you." But you're my fiancée!  
  
"Why would you do this?"  
  
"Your happiness is what matters most to me. And we knew we were rushing into things here. I couldn't see depriving you of something that might work out better then you and I. But I knew that you didn't know it. So we set this up, to try to get you two to spend more time together, so that if my assumptions were true you would know before I dragged you all the way to England." He stopped and took a few deep breaths. He knew I was in love with Niles. He made sure that I realized it too. Oh dear, but what did I want? I had to talk to Niles now, more than ever.  
  
"So this was all just a scheme?" I asked. He hung his head low.  
  
"Yes. Are you made at me?" He looked up at that.  
  
"Surprisingly no. We need to talk, Bryce, but not now. Now I need to figure out what is really going on here between Niles and I. Excuse me." I grabbed my coat and left the apartment.  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~End of Part II~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


	3. Just a Stare, part III

**Just A Stare**  
Part III  
  
        By Laura Brown  
  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Niles~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
I had never been so tormented in my life. My entire world was crumbling around my feet. I was now a divorced man who had to have the love of his life spend time with him out of pity. I could have handled it if Daphne was doing this as a friend, even if she kissed me under false pretenses. For the whole thing to be a scheme, however, was devastating. I was angry with my family, I was angry with Daphne. And I felt utterly alone.  
  
I made it back to the Montana and headed towards my bar. I stopped short, I didn't want any alcohol. I didn't want to numb the pain and end up feeling sorry for myself, or even forgiving of their actions. That thought scared me. I was never one for anger, always avoided it endlessly, and now I was thriving in it. I contemplated purchasing a punching bag but realized that no stores were open this late at night. I stood by my couch wondering if I could punch it without destroying it when the doorbell rang.  
  
I ignored it. It rang again, then came knocking. I sat on my couch and listened. Eventually came a voice, Daphne's voice.  
  
"Niles, if you're there I need to talk to you." Silence, I stared at the door. "Bloody hell, I know you are there and you must know that I need to explain to you what's been going on." I continued to stare at the door, rage building inside me. And it hurt; it hurt to be this angry with Daphne. "For God sakes Niles! Open the door. We've been fooled, they've been playing a bloody scheme on us." I sat there, motionless, as her words began to seek in – we? We've been fooled? But I thought…   
  
I finally got up and moved over to the door.  
  
  
**Daphne**  
  
I didn't expect it to take this long to get him to open up the door. I was kicking myself for hurting him so. When he did let me in, however, I was surprised at what I saw. He was angry, fists clenched, jaw tight, practically steaming. I knew that I had hurt him but how did I make him angry?  
  
He glared at me and yet somehow I knew he was surprised as well. I took a few cautious steps inside and began to speak.  
  
"You see, apparently everyone's been involved in a scheme –" He cut me off.  
  
"I know." The door closed with a great deal of force behind me.  
  
"What do you mean you know?"  
  
"Dad told me about it tonight, how could you?" And now hurt was playing in his eyes again. His hands had become unclenched but they instantly tightened up again.  
  
"How could I? I don't understand, I just found out about this tonight." He had turned away from me and suddenly he was facing my again, anger all but vanished from his face.  
  
"You what?"  
  
"I just found out about this. Why, what did you think?"  
  
"I thought – I thought. I thought you were in on this." Oh dear! Without being leery of his enraged state I moved towards him and placed my hands on his shoulders.  
  
"I was not. Bryce has been in on this too. He was the one who set this whole thing in motion, without either one of our knowledge's." Niles pulled away from me and began to walk around the room.  
  
"I don't understand, why would he do this?" He stopped and looked at me. I took a few deep breaths. It was not or never, wasn't it?  
  
"Because he realized something that I did not." Pause, deep breaths, keep his stare. "Because I'm in love with you."  
  
  
**Niles**  
  
I was on a roller coaster of emotions. My anger had begun to leave me. I believed Daphne when she said she didn't know. She was practically a wreck in front of me. She seemed so unsure of herself and I couldn't help but to lose all anger towards her. And then my emotions got another dose of chaos. She told me she was in love with me.  
  
Everything in the room went blank except for her. We continued to stare at each other except now her eyes were pleading with mine. I slowly let what she said sink in: she loved me. She loved me, Bryce knew this. Yet she's engaged. No wonder she's been so confused.  
  
"Please, Niles, say something, anything." She broke our stare and was now looking at the floor. In all my years of loving her I never thought that she would be the one to say it first. Wait, I shouldn't be telling myself this, should I? Come on Niles, you have no reason to back out now. Just say it.  
  
"Daphne," she's looking at me again, good. Pause. Come on words, I had you just a moment ago, come to my mouth. "Daphne," she's holding her hands, "in all my years of loving you I never thought you would be the one to say it first." There, now that wasn't so hard, was it? She let out a breath; apparently she had been holding it in.  
  
"So what now?"  
  
"I don't think that's for me to decide." Daphne moved and sat down on my couch.  
  
"Well I haven't been doing very good with this decision. Why do you think I've been so nutty these past few weeks? I knew that there was some reason why I didn't want to go to England and when I found out that reason was you –" I couldn't let her continue speaking, I practically ran over to her and kissed her. I've been what's keeping her here, but I've also caused her such confusion. And to see her so tormented was breaking my heart. But she loved me, what reason did I have not to kiss her?  
  
Her arms instantly were around me. She felt fragile in my arms. I began to stroke her cheek. Our kiss ended when she let out a slight chuckle, I pulled away.  
  
"As nice as that sentiment is, it's not helping me much." She said, we both sat down.  
  
"Really? I thought it might do you some good." She gave me a smile and I returned it.  
  
"Well, it did but I think we talking is a little more important, wouldn't you agree?" I nodded and held her hand. How had I gone from showing anger to showing love in such a short amount of time?  
  
"What would you like to talk about?" I asked, she sighed.  
  
"Well, for starters, what is this?"   
  
"You mean," I dared to say the word, "us?"   
  
"Yes. If you could have things your way, what would this, us, be?" I placed my other hand on top of our joined hands, more for some sense of comfort and drive, and gathered up my courage to answer her.  
  
"Honestly?"  
  
"Yes, honestly." She gave my hands a squeeze.  
  
"If I could have things my way I would have told you how I feel a long time ago. I would have had the courage to tell you, to ask you out, to date you. I see this as nothing light, Daphne. I want you in my life, now and forever, as so much more than just a friend." A few tears were forming in her eyes; I took her face in my hands and brushed her tears away. "I love you Daphne, it doesn't get any clearer than that. The question now is, what do you want?"  
  
  
**Daphne**  
  
What did I want? Yes, that was the question, that's what the question has always been, hasn't it? Asking Niles to go first was just stalling, although I did love to hear what he said. To hear just how deep his feelings were for me, it was glorious.  
  
"That's what I've been trying to figure out," I replied, my nerves beginning to go into overdrive, and glanced down at my hands.  
  
"It seems to me, Daphne, you have two options and two suitors. You have to decide which one is right for you." I looked up at him, it really was that simple, wasn't it? Bryce or Niles, that's what's it's always been. And being with Niles has never made me think of Bryce, but being Bryce has made me think of Niles. This very simple answer had been hiding under so much junk I had lost site of how easy this whole thing was. I didn't even bother to work things out with Bryce when he told me of this scheme. No, I jumped into my car and sped over here. Why had it taken me so long to sort this out?  
  
I noticed that Niles, my love, was shaking. This is what he's always been afraid of, hasn't it, rejection?  
  
"Niles, can I ask you a question?"  
  
"Anything," his voice shook.  
  
"What has kept you from making a move, as you've said, all these years? Has it been rejection?" He glanced downwards, my heart leapt, this is what it was, rejection, he's been scared.  
  
"Yes," he replied almost inaudibly. I placed my finger under his chin and lifted his head up so that he could look into my eyes.  
  
"Never fear that, especially with me," slight smile forming over his face, "I love you and I want to be with you," now a full-fledged smile. My god, he's absolutely radiant. I decided it was time to return that kiss he gave me earlier.  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Martin~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
I went after Niles as he left McGinty's but I'm just an old man with a bum hip, there was no way I was catching up to him. I debated whether or not to follow him home but decided I needed to talk to Frasier about this, to let him know the cat was out of the bag.  
  
I never expected to find Bryce when I got home.  
  
"Bryce, what brings you here?" He looked solemn; Frasier was with him and turned to speak to me.  
  
"Hi dad, let's just say that things have finally come to an end."  
  
"Yeah, tell me about it." I replied, Frasier looked confused.  
  
"No, Marty, Daphne knows about the scheme," Bryce said. I wasn't the only one to let the plan drop?  
  
"Has Niles been here?" I asked.  
  
"No, Daphne left to go find him," Frasier said. I remembered the rage that was in Niles when he left, this was not good.  
  
"We've got to go after her," I said while turning towards the door.  
  
"Why?" Bryce asked. I turned back around.  
  
"Because Niles thinks that Daphne's in on the scheme as well."  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Niles~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
I had somehow managed to step out of my poor excuse of a reality and step into my dream world. I wasn't delusional, though. I realized that for whatever reason this was all real. That Daphne was truly in my arms, in love with me, kissing me. I felt like I had died and gone to heaven.  
  
My doorbell knocked us back to our senses.  
  
"Bloody hell, who's that?" Daphne said while reluctantly pulling away from me. My head was still very high in the clouds and Daphne's statement only succeeded in pushing it up higher. I somehow found my senses and made my way towards the door, not before I heard my father speaking.  
  
"Niles, it's your father. I have to fully explain to you what's going on, let me in. I've led you to a false conclusion." I stopped halfway towards the door and turned to face Daphne. We knew exactly what the issue at hand was and neither one of us could control the laughter building inside us. We both burst out laughing, she leaning forward on my couch as I was practically bending over. After all the emotions we've both been through it was wonderful to truly laugh.  
  
"What should we do?" I asked once I gained a small amount of composer.  
  
"Just to let him in would be too easy now, wouldn't it?" She replied. A knock occurred at my door. I started to pray my neighbors weren't home.  
  
"Niles, open up!" Well, Frasier's out there as well. Looks like we've got a double header.  
  
"Should we have some fun with them?" I asked. I then realized that Daphne had sobered up upon hearing Frasier's voice.  
  
"No, let's not." Why does it feel like she's regressing?  
  
"Daphne?" I asked. She looked up at me.  
  
"Oh no! It's not that, it's just that when I left your brother last Bryce was with him." Ahh.  
  
"Shall we let them in?" Daphne stood up.  
  
"Not quite yet, can I use your phone?"  
  
  
**Daphne**  
  
I was fine with Bryce butting into my life in this manner, he had every right to. I didn't think Frasier, Martin, and Roz deserved the same cordiality. So I called Bryce's cell phone. Sure enough, I could hear it ringing on the other side of the door.  
  
"Hello?" Bryce asked.  
  
"Bryce, it's me, don't let Frasier or Martin know who your talking to."  
  
"Alright…" Oh dear, I needed to come up with an excuse, didn't I?  
  
"Just pretend I'm Sara, calling from England." I soon realized the fault of my plan.  
  
"Why are you home at three in the afternoon?" I may be breaking this guys heart, but he was teasing me nonetheless.  
  
"Bryce, just pretend your sister got home early and decided to give you a call," I practically begged him.  
  
"So what's up, Sara?" He asked playing along, I was so grateful.  
  
"I wanted to talk to you in some form of privacy seeing as you are right outside the door with Frasier and Martin."  
  
"Yet I won't be able to say anything back to you."  
  
"That's your problem," I joked. "We'll set up some time to talk later?"  
  
"That would be much appreciated, you can tell me the full story tomorrow, say around six?"  
  
"Wonderful, I'll be at your place then." I then took a deep breath, time to tell him the short story. "Bryce, I hate to tell you this, but you were right all along. Looks like I won't be joining you in London." I paused, I wasn't sure what else to say.  
  
"I knew that," he replied solemnly.  
  
"Bryce, I am so sorry."  
  
"Don't be unless you fail to answer this question correctly, are you happy?" Thankfully I finally have an answer to that.  
  
"Yes."  
  
"Good."  
  
"Thanks for being such a good friend." He paused before replying.  
  
"So what do you want me to do, I'm in the middle of raiding in on a scheme here." And then I heard Frasier's voice.  
  
"If we ever get in, that is." Oh dear, impatient isn't he?  
  
"Well, what would give you some enjoyment?" I asked, looking around the room to find out where Niles had gone. I found him sitting at his dinning table, trying to give me some privacy. He was still listening, obviously, and came over when I gave him a small wave.  
  
"Honestly, having some fun with that crazy extended family of yours and seeing my baby sister happy for once." I chuckled over the phone.  
  
"Alright, prepare to be shocked," I warned him.  
  
"How much so?" he asked.  
  
"Remember Molly Keen?"  
  
  
**Bryce**  
  
Oh dear lord, do I remember Molly Keen? Of course I remember Molly Keen. I began laughing right then and there. Martin and Frasier were glaring at me, both still thinking that we had an angered Niles on our hands and anxiously waiting for me to finish with my phone call.   
  
"Of course I do," I said into the phone once I had regained some composure. "Time?" I asked Daphne.  
  
"Oh crap, I have no idea how fast I can do this, just stall until they start bloody pounding again!" She exclaimed and hung up the phone. I kept mine to my ear for a bit to try to compose myself. I knew I was about to enter a difficult situation but I also knew that I was in on what was about to happen. Surprisingly I was even looking forward to it. I finally put the phone away.  
  
"Sorry Lads, me baby sister needed to talk to me."  
  
"Sounded pretty light," Frasier smirked.  
  
"Only at the end, the poor dear was a wreck at the beginning of the phone call."  
  
"Can we get back to Niles and Daphne?" Martin asked. Oh no, I needed to stall them.  
  
"Not yet, let him think we've gone away. It wouldn't hurt if we knew what we were saying before hand, now would it?" They both glared at me. God's speed, Daphne.  
  
  
**Niles**  
  
Daphne hung up my phone and turned to me with a goofy grin.  
  
"Who's Molly Keen?" I asked, Daphne chuckled.  
  
"Before I tell you, are you ready to have some fun?" she asked me, almost teasingly so.  
  
"With who, Dad and Frasier?" She nodded her head yes. "I suppose so."  
  
"Alright then. We'll have to talk and act at the same time; Bryce is not going to be able to stall your family for long. Do you have any candles?" How do candles help this situation? I decided to austerely put my faith in Daphne.   
  
"Of course, follow me." As we got the candles and set them up Daphne spoke.  
  
"Molly Keen is an old girlfriend of Bryce's. She was an awful vixen and was cheating on him. She claimed it was a one time mess up, Bryce soon found out that it was a regular occurrence with a large sum of men. So I helped Bryce get even. One weekend I came for a visit on a day when we knew Molly would be coming by later. We decorated the apartment with candles, flowers, and the such, and then made a mess out of the bedroom. When she finally rang the doorbell I opened it up, seemingly wearing only a sheet." I realized where this was going and had to steady myself by leaning up against the wall. "She instantly asked me who I was, so I told her my name was Daphne and asked who she was. With a huff she practically shouted that she was Bryce's girlfriend. So I turned into the apartment and called out, 'Bryce, your girlfriend's here,' at which point Bryce appeared, wearing only pants. Molly left soon there after and Bryce and I laughed for a good half hour." We had now set up a fair amount of lit candles around my living room.  
  
"So this is what we are going to be doing?" I asked, nerves taking over my body at the mere thought of pretending to have made love to Daphne. She, however, still had her cool.  
  
"Yup, I'll need to borrow a bed sheet, if you don't mind?" she asked. I then led us both upstairs and proceeded to ask Daphne a question.  
  
"Then what did happen here, because the last time Dad saw me I was fuming with anger at both him and you?" I stopped at my closet, pulled out one of my best sheets, and handed it to Daphne.  
  
"Well, either we knew what was going on the whole time or we cleared up the confusion at a faster pace."  
  
"Let's go with the second one, no sense in perplexing the matter more." I said and she shook her head. Suddenly I noticed that Daphne was becoming nervous.  
  
"I guess now we have to, um, play the part," she gave me a weak smile. As her nerves increased mine had decreased.  
  
"That shouldn't be too hard," I said as I took her into my arms and kissed her passionately. That's when the doorbell rang causing us to break apart.  
  
"We're going to have to work faster than that," she replied and began to tousle up my hair. I took off my suit jacket.  
  
"Well, what about you?" I asked as I removed my tie.  
  
"I'm the easy part," she chuckled. She then hiked her skirt up to above her knees, slipped her shoes off, took her arms out of her shirt so that her shirt was below her armpits, and wrapped the sheet around her. "Tada!" she exclaimed.  
  
"I'm impressed, but what about your hair?" She bent over and ruffled it up a bit. The doorbell rang again.  
  
"Now, I'll let you figure out what you need to do," she said while giving me a quick but intense kiss. "And hurry up, your brother's liable to break down your door!" She went back downstairs and I stared after her in capricious disbelief before heading to my bedroom to find my pajama bottoms.  
  
  
**Daphne**  
  
This scheme was so much easier when I did it with Bryce. Back then there was no romantic friction between us, nothing to make the situation uncomfortable. But with Niles and I it was a little too close to reality. If it hadn't been for the darn doorbell I would have willingly continued kissing him. Then there wouldn't be a plan going on, just reality.  
  
As I made it downstairs they started knocking at the door. I soon heard Martin's voice.  
  
"Niles, open up, you've got to listen to me!" The poor guy sounded really distraught. I turned to see Niles come down the steps in only his pajama bottoms. My, my, could we just ignore them on the other side of the door…  
  
"Niles Crane! This is completely boorish of you!" Frasier's voice reminded me that they would not be ignored.  
  
"Shall we?" Niles asked me as he gave me a kiss.  
  
"Let's get one more shout out of them," I said as Martin began to speak.  
  
"Alright, at least listen to what I have to say. You were wrong about the scheme. Yes, Frasier and I were in on it but Daphne –" I decided that would be a good point to open the door.  
  
"Daphne what?" I asked, only peeking my head around the door. Frasier and Martin both dropped their jaws in shock. Bryce gave me a wink; he seemed to be doing all right, good.  
  
"Um, may we come in, Daphne?" Frasier asked. I turned around and then back to them.  
  
"Well, you've caught us at a inopportune moment," I replied as I saw Bryce stifle a laugh and could feel Niles doing the same. Frasier glared at me.  
  
"It's ok, Daphne, let them in," Niles spoke from behind me. I moved back to let them in so that my appearance would be one of the last things they saw, just to round out the picture.  
  
  
**Niles**  
  
My father and brother have never had such dubious expressions on their faces before. My outfit instantly startled them; I very rarely ever wear only pajama bottoms. No, I think that's a never. Then they noticed the candles. Then, finally I saw them both gasp silently at Daphne's attire. Bryce was just accepting of the view, he knew that no one would be looking at his expressions for a few moments. I took the time to give him a silent nod, which he returned. It seemed that even we could be on decent terms.  
  
"What is going on here?" Frasier finally found the words to ask.  
  
"Frasier, This is not something that you should need spelled out," Daphne said, while walking over to me.   
  
"But you were so upset," my father said.  
  
"Yes, I was," I responded. "But then Daphne came over here and set me straight." I gave her a quick kiss, a little hesitant to do so around Bryce.  
  
"Well, ahh, we're sorry for disturbing you," my brother said and actually turned as if he was going to leave. Daphne took the reigns.  
  
"No sense leaving now, you've already caused enough of a distraction. Why don't we all have a nice little chat?" And now she's casually sitting on the couch. She was holding both Frasier and Dad's stairs. I glanced at Bryce and the two of us had to look away to prevent from breaking into laughter. I was beginning to like the guy and be pleased that he wasn't upset with us.   
  
"Aww, Daph!" My father exclaimed, shifting uncomfortably.  
  
"Now, now, Dad," I said as I moved to sit down next to Daphne. "I think we deserve a full explanation of this 'scheme' that you pulled over us, now don't we?" My family made no attempts at moving. Bryce, however, moved towards the closest chair.  
  
"Right you are," he sat down, Dad and Frasier gawked at him. Bryce turned to address them, "it's only fair to give them the details." Daphne gave my hand a quick squeeze and Bryce a quick glance; I took it as a warning.  
  
"And then we'll share ours," I had no idea she could say that so innocently. My father turned to face the door and my brother scratched his head. Both Bryce and I were having a hard time keeping smiles off our faces. Daphne glanced back and forth between the two of us; I sense that she was loosing it too.  
  
"Oh bloody hell!" She exclaimed as all three of us burst out laughing. My brother stopped scratching and held his hand in the same position. My father turned around sharply, both men were glaring at us.  
  
"Niles, what's going on here?" my brother asked. I took a few deep breaths and answered him.  
  
"It wasn't my idea," I then resumed my laughter.  
  
"I don't understand, your attire, the room…" My father's voice trailed off. Daphne, now only chuckling, reached into her sheet and put her arms back in her sleeves. She then stood up, removed the sheet, and pulled her skirt back down.  
  
"As you were saying?" she asked while looking at my father.  
  
"That's not even funny," he replied.  
  
"And lying to Niles and I is?" she retorted.  
  
"Bryce, you knew about this?" Frasier asked him.  
  
"Sorry mates, that was Daphne on my phone earlier. Though I think it's safe to say that I deserved to be clued in on this."  
  
"But it was your plan!" My brother's voice went up an octave.  
  
"Yes, and Bryce was my fiancée." Daphne said, suddenly becoming solemn again. She moved towards Bryce and took off her engagement ring.  
  
"I'm sorry," was all that she could say. He grabbed her arms and puller her down to kiss her cheek.  
  
"It was good to laugh with you, once again." She knelt before him.  
  
"You'll be alright?"  
  
"I survived Molly Keen, didn't I?" And now the three of us are laughing again.  
  
"Who's Molly Keen?" my brother and father asked at the exact same moment.  
  
  
**Daphne**  
  
I never knew that such a difficult situation could be so expertly handled. It seemed that Bryce and I were back on track to being friends. Even Niles and Bryce appeared like they would soon be chums. Frasier and Martin were a little upset at first but in no time all sides had come clean with the plans that had been set up. The only person left to include was Roz and Niles had very eagerly asked for that opportunity.  
  
In the end Bryce, Frasier, and Martin left. I stayed behind to continue talking things out with Niles. As soon as we closed the door Niles began to blow out a few of the candles. I moved over to him and stopped him.  
  
"What do you think you're doing?" I asked. He looked at me questioningly. "Might as well put those candles to good use, right?" I pulled him close to me. I may have resumed my former attire but Niles was still only wearing pants and I had eagerly been awaiting being able to feel his skin under my hands. I kissed him as I rubbed my hands up and down his back; his hands were soon doing likewise to mine.  
  
"Oh Daphne," he sighed as he pulled back a bit. "Should we really rush into this?" His eyes were searching mine. I moved away and began to blow out a few candles.  
  
"Oh, you're probably right. This little plan of ours just got me thinking…" I paused and faced him to blow out a few candles; I could tell that I was getting to him. "But no matter, there's plenty of time for that latter, isn't there?" I turned back and blew out the last candle.   
  
"Well, we wouldn't need the candles in here anyways, would we?" Niles asked, a smirk forming over his face. He was starting to get the picture.  
  
"We wouldn't?" I asked innocently. He picked up the sheet that I had since discarded and walked over to me.   
  
"Let's see if we can get you back into this, shall we?" And then the last conscious thought I had was of his lips on mine.  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Niles~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
I woke up the next morning convinced that I had had way too much to drink the night before. I laid in bed with my eyes closed thinking about these images that were in my head: Daphne and I kissing, she leaving, my meeting with Dad, the anger I felt, Daphne choosing me over Bryce, a lurid scheme, Daphne and I making love…  
  
My brain suddenly began to be conscious of the warmth that was against my skin, warmth from another body. And then it realized that I very rarely sleep with no clothes on.  
  
I opened my eyes quickly to see Daphne lying beside me. I closed them again, slowly realizing that I had not envisioned any of the thoughts in my head. It made perfect sense; my head was not throbbing with a hangover. My heart was what was throbbing, throbbing with love. Another region of my body happened to be throbbing as well, just proving to me that I was not hallucinating at all.  
  
I opened my eyes again and began to stare at Daphne, at my beautiful love. I tried to memorize everything about her though I soon remembered that I wouldn't have to. This was for real, for keeps. She was in love with me.  
  
I kissed her cheek and she began to stretch, sending shivers down my spine. She turned over and looked at me, stunned for a second, then let out a laugh.  
  
"My, my, it was real, wasn't it?" I laughed at that point.  
  
"You too?" She looked at me, fully realizing that we were both disillusioned, and snuggled up close to me to give me a kiss.  
  
"Think Frasier or Martin would be surprised that I didn't make it home last night?" she asked me saucily.  
  
"Even if they would normally be I think we surprised them enough in one night to last them for a while." We chuckled and I wrapped my arms tightly around her.  
  
"Oh Niles, I just don't want to move, this sheet is quite comfortable." She winked at me. In fact that sheet was the only blanket we had used, the rest of my bed remained perfectly intact underneath us.  
  
"You think I would have picked anything less than my best for you, the woman I love?" I actually had a quiver in my voice when I said that, she gave me a kiss."  
  
"I'll never tire of hearing that," she sighed. I kissed her fiercely.  
  
"I love you, Daphne," I said, staring into her eyes, into her soul.   
  
"I love you too, Niles," she replied, staring back. "What do you say," she began to run her hand down the side of my body, "to having a slow morning?" I didn't need to respond to that, I pulled her close to me and kissed her. My hands were instantly exploring her naked body, as her hands did likewise to mine. If my eyes hadn't caught of a glimpse of my clock I would have continued quite gleefully. Instead I had to pull away.   
  
"Oh, no," I sighed, "as much as I love that sentiment, I'm running the risk of being late for work." I began to get myself out of bed, I had an hour before my first client, this was not good. Daphne gave a chuckled behind me.  
  
"You're going to be able to work in your state?" danger flashed in her eyes.  
  
"I have no choice, I have an hour to get to work." I began to head towards the bathroom.  
  
"I'll join you," she replied, getting out of bed as well.  
  
"Daphne I don't think that you are going to be very entertained sitting in my waiting room –" she cut me off by placing a finger on my lips.  
  
"I meant in the shower," and then she left me standing in a bit of shock. Momentarily she returned and pulled me towards her, towards the bathroom, and towards her lips.  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Martin~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
I was not surprised that Daphne never showed at the breakfast table, Frasier was a different story.  
  
"Dad, do you know where Daphne is?" I unwillingly laughed out loud.  
  
"You know as well as I do where she was last night."  
  
"Yes, however I wouldn't think they would jump into something like that." Oh geez.  
  
"Yet you were fooled by their little scheme?" He gave me his trapped by a cop look, I continued eating my cereal.  
  
"Well, I, oh alright!" He finally exclaimed, heading into the kitchen to make himself some breakfast. I was quite proud of the night's happenings. To see Daphne and Niles that happy and together made me happy.  
  
Frasier continued to grumble a bit throughout breakfast, he doesn't take to being fooled very well. I just let him vent, I knew eventually he would leave for work. Before he did so I reminded him not to mention anything to Roz, I got a glare from him. He can be such a pain sometimes.  
  
A few hours later Daphne finally made it home.  
  
"Hello Martin," she blushed a bit as she entered the door.  
  
"Hey Daph. I take it things went well?" I asked, she gave me a smile.  
  
"Yes, yes they did," the smile faded. "Are you ok with all this?"  
  
"With you sleeping with my son?" she gave me a cross look.  
  
"With me dating your son, the sex has nothing to do with you, old man." I laughed with her.  
  
"I am very ok with this, Daph. I noticed that you were falling for Niles, that you two would work great together. I'm just glad that the whole thing worked." She came over to me and gave me a hug and a kiss on the cheek.  
  
"Thank you old man. Now, if you excuse me, I'd like to go change." She left to her room as if she was walking on air. Yeah, she'll be my daughter-in-law in no time.  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Niles~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
During my break I waited for Roz to arrive at Nervosa. Luckily she showed before I finished my first cup of coffee.  
  
"Hey Niles," she said after she placed her order.  
  
"Hello Roz," I replied. After last night I could not discontinue beaming even if I wanted to.  
  
"You seem to be in good spirits," she said.   
  
"The best."  
  
"Too bad Daphne's been down in the dumps." Yes, Roz had no idea that the scheme had been laid to rest.  
  
"She seemed fine the last time I saw her," better then fine, she was positively radiant.  
  
"That's odd, she was really upset the last time I saw her, do you know what changed?" And Roz is leaning forward, prying, dying for answers.  
  
"Nope, no idea." I then noticed Daphne enter the café. Her timing was perfect. She looked at me questioningly and I shook my head no, she then joined us.  
  
"Hello Roz, Niles," she said my name timidly.  
  
"Hey Daph," Roz said.  
  
"Hello Daphne," I replied, Daphne was avoiding direct eye contact with me, I assumed it was for the ploy. "Would you like a coffee?" I asked her.  
  
"Yes please." She gave me her order and I left the two alone to chat.  
  
  
**Roz**  
  
Niles seemed a little too happy, but Daphne seemed timid, I had no idea whether this scheme was succeeding or not.  
  
"So Daph, you feeling any better?" I asked.  
  
"Oh god Roz! Things just keep getting worse. Do you know that Bryce set me up for a scheme." Uh-oh, what would be a good answer to that…  
  
"What? You're kidding me?" Ignorance is always best.   
  
"Yes, apparently he thought I had feelings for Niles."  
  
"But you do, don't you?"  
  
"That's not the point, he tricked me, my own fiancée tricked me. So I broke up with him." Maybe that's why Niles was so happy. Still, this didn't sound good.  
  
"I'm so sorry Daphne." Niles then returned with her coffee.  
  
"Here you go," he said while sitting down.  
  
"Thank you," she replied. I didn't know whether or not to continue our conversation. Daphne answered that question for me.  
  
"I'm just so upset with Bryce right now. How could he do such a thing to me! A scheme of all things! A true friend, never mind more than a friend, would never do that!" I started to feel really crappy. My coffee came and I put more sugar in than I really should have.  
  
"Daphne, you're better without him for what he did," Niles said sincerely. His goofy grin had somehow left. Daphne resumed speaking.  
  
"To top it all off Frasier and Martin were in on this as well, I thought they truly cared for me." Daphne began to sob and Niles passed her a handkerchief. "Would you do anything like this, Roz? Would you?" Oh great, now I was on the spot. Time to fess up.  
  
"Actually, Daph, I would." Both Niles and Daphne gasped.  
  
"So all those times you told me to spend time with Niles, that was part of a scheme?" she was leering into me now, oh boy.   
  
"Yes but I realized it was for your own good." Wait a minute, the scheme was to get Niles and Daphne together, and they're both here, talking to me about this together…  
  
"What's going on here?" I finally asked.  
  
"What on Earth do you mean?" Niles asked.   
  
"Well, the scheme was to get you two together, so it doesn't really make sense that you're both sitting here interrogating me about this." They looked at each other.  
  
"She's got a point," Niles said.  
  
"Drats." Daphne responded. I was growing a strange suspicion that I had just been conned.  
  
"Fess up, you're pulling one over on me, aren't you?" They looked at each other again.  
  
"She quicker than Dad and Frasier," Niles said.  
  
"I told you."  
  
"Niles! Daphne! Hello!" I shouted and then the two of them started laughing.   
  
"Yes, Roz, you've been fooled. The whole plan fell through last night," Daphne finally told me.  
  
"And they didn't tell me?" I exclaimed.  
  
"Well, for starters it was quite late at night, and Daphne and I begged them to let us tell you." Hey!  
  
"That's not fair."  
  
"Oh, it is, wait till you hear what we did to them." Daphne then proceeded to tell me the story of what happened last night. She was right, I did get a better share of this deal.  
  
"So the plan did work?" I asked, just trying to clarify.  
  
"Yes, Roz, the plan did work. Bryce and I have broken off the engagement and resorted back to being long distance buds," Daphne told me. "And Niles and I – Oh dear, honey, what are we?" He gave her a giddy smile.   
  
"Two people in love?" Oh man is he corny!  
  
"Well, congratulations you two," I said while rising.  
  
"Thanks Roz," they both replied as I put on my coat.  
  
"Oh, and Roz," Daphne began, "If you ever do that again I'll have your head."  
  
"Right," I said and left Nervosa to go yell at Frasier for getting me involved in this whole mess.  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Frasier~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
Roz was delightful today at work. She growled at me the whole time, as if the whole first scheme and second scheme were my fault. I growled back. We would have continued bantering back and forth if we hadn't end up scaring Noel in the process. That just killed the friction and sent the two of us into a laughing fit.  
  
When I arrived home I was hoping that Daphne was there, I hadn't seen her since last night. Dad and I knew full well what that meant. I entered my apartment to find her cleaning up.  
  
"Hello Frasier," she said happily.  
  
"Hello Daphne. Gosh, it's nice to see you in good spirits for once."  
  
"I have been down in the dumps a bit, haven't I?" she chuckled.  
  
"Indeed you have. So how are things between you and Niles?" I asked.  
  
"You were here last night, you know I didn't make it home," she smirked at me. I smiled slyly at her.  
  
"You know that's not what I meant." She glared, she knew me too well.  
  
"I'm only here for a little bit then I'm off to see Bryce. Did he seem ok last night after he left?" She asked, smile fading from her face.  
  
"Surprisingly Daph, he did. I talked to him for a bit, making sure he wasn't just putting on a brave face, but he genuinely seemed fine."  
  
"Oh, that's Bryce for you. He has the ability to adjust quickly, especially when the adjustment is called for. Knowing about the scheme now that's why he wanted to keep his distance. It allowed him to be able to handle me loving your brother."  
  
"I thought the distance was so that you would fall for Niles."  
  
"It had a double reason." Dad then entered with Eddie.  
  
"Hey Fras, hey Daph."   
  
"Hi dad, how was your day?" I asked.  
  
"Well, once Daphne made it home things were pretty good." Daphne continued cleaning up.  
  
"Excuse me for sleeping in, especially when I know that you really don't mind." I chuckled to myself and headed for my bedroom, it was nice to have things back to normal around here.  
  
  
**Daphne**  
  
I left soon there after to go to Bryce's place. Truth be told, I was nervous as all hell. I didn't want to ruin our friendship or hurt him in any way. I couldn't imagine him really being fine with all this.  
  
He answered the door and seemed happy to see me.  
  
"Hey Daph, come on in," it was like this past few months had never happened.  
  
"Bryce McGee, are you alright?" I asked in response to his cool exterior.  
  
"Daphne Moon I am recovering, what more would you want?" he gave me a smile and I gave him a hug.  
  
"I was so worried about you," I said.  
  
"Don't be, now sit here and tell me the full story." I shifted a bit in my seat. "And try to pretend that we never got involved romantically. Remember, I'll know if you're hiding anything," he gave me a 'Bryce wants all the answers' smile; I knew he really did want to hear to full story. I also knew that he could handle the story as well.  
  
I ended up explaining to him everything, cutting out only the details of the previous night that were certainly not any of his business, he caught me on it.  
  
"All right Daph, you're omitting something," the problem with people who've known you too well for too long.  
  
"Only information that you are really not interested in," I replied and he gave out a chuckle.  
  
"Working fast, I see," I slapped his arm.  
  
"Bryce!" It was like nothing had changed. "How are you this relaxed about the whole thing?"  
  
"Because I had a month to make myself get over you."  
  
"And you're completely over me now?" I asked.  
  
"Are you?" this was becoming awkward.  
  
"No, of course not."  
  
"And neither am I. Daph, we crossed lines, we will always be somewhere beyond friends. However both you and I know that us would not have worked, if for no other reason then Niles. I'm fine with that. You two work together, I saw that last night." And I knew he was right. I knew that I would have a few problems with his first girlfriend but those problems would never amount to anything and I could even become close friends with her.  
  
"We are an odd pair, aren't we?" I finally asked.  
  
"Nah, we're just normal," I shot a look at him.  
  
"You call this normal?"  
  
"Well, maybe healthy is the better word here."  
  
"Yes, I'll agree with healthy."  
  
"So tell me about this Doctor of yours, you love him?"  
  
"Of course I do."  
  
"Is he 'the one?'" I thought about that for a moment.  
  
"You expect me to know this quickly?"  
  
"Having left an engagement for him, yes, I do." I thought a bit more.  
  
"Yes, I think he is."  
  
"Well 'think' isn't going to do it. Daph, you know you like to chicken out, become afraid for no reason what so ever. Answer me this, honestly. For me, for yourself. Is Niles Crane the one?" And I thought. And a smile formed over my face.  
  
"He is." I said, lost in thoughts of him in my head. I was brought back by Bryce's laughter. "What's so funny?"  
  
"Nothing, just how far gone you are," I slapped his arm one more time.  
  
  
  
After my meeting with Bryce I decided to see how Niles was doing.  
  
"Hello love," he said while giving me a kiss. Had we really only been a couple for one day?  
  
"Hi Niles," I stepped in and he took my coat.  
  
"How did your meeting with Bryce go?" He asked as we sat down.  
  
"Quite well, we talked everything out and were really able to clear the water."  
  
"Was he upset?"  
  
"Surprisingly no."  
  
"So you're still friends?"   
  
"Yes we are, in-fact, he wants to get together with the two of us tomorrow night."  
  
"The three of us are going to hang out?"  
  
"Does that bother you?" I was afraid Niles might have some bad feelings towards Bryce.  
  
"No, not at all, just shocked me a bit, that's all."  
  
"Bryce bounces back easily, he'll be fine."  
  
"Well, I hope so," Niles began while moving closer to me, "because I have no intensions of letting you go." My heart quickened its pace. This was real.  
  
"Is that so?" I asked.  
  
"Do you have any objections?" His face was now inches from mine.  
  
"None what so ever," I managed to say before he kissed me. I had to break off the kiss. "I know I asked you this earlier but I think I could use an answer, what exactly are we?" Niles sat back next to me.  
  
"What do you mean?" I took a deep breath, Bryce was right, I scare easily from relationships.  
  
"Well, I was talking with Bryce today and he asked me if – if you were 'the one.'" Niles perked up instantly.  
  
"What was your response?"  
  
"Yes," I barely whispered. When I dared look up from my hands I was met with a huge grin on Niles' face.  
  
"I feel the exact same way," he said while taking my hand in his.  
  
"So this, us, is serious?" I asked, my heart beating even faster.  
  
"It's always been for me," he replied, gripping my hand a little tighter. I guessed the same amount of jitters I had were also coursing through him. "I've never just wanted you lightly, Daphne. It's always been so much more than that, even when I thought things were still good with Maris. Even then I wanted you, physically and emotionally. When I separated I began to think of what would happen if we got together, if we got married, if we had children…" his voice had gotten softer and eventually trailed, he was staring at my hands. Oh my god, he wanted to marry me. And I knew instantly that I wanted all those things with him as well. I let go of his hand to push his chin up so that he was looking at me.  
  
"I want that too," I said softly. He kissed me at that moment, fiercely, intensely, knocking half my logic out of my head. I gasped and got a few more words out.  
  
"This still has not answered my question," I said, he sighed playfully beside me.   
  
"I just thought that to do anything rash when we've been together, " he glanced at his watch, "less then twenty-four hours would be a bit irrational, don't you think?"  
  
"No, not really," my nerves were getting the best of me; I apparently wanted this, badly. "That is, if you don't think it's rash?" Now he's breathing as heavily as I was.  
  
  
**Niles**  
  
Oh my god, what is about to transpire here? I was staring down at my hands; I knew Daphne was doing the same. I also knew that she was, coaxing me. She wanted a commitment, a commitment of the highest kind. And I wanted it too. So why the hell were we both exceedingly apprehensive? I took a deep breath.  
  
"I've loved you for so long that I don't think it's irrational at all." Silence filled the room. We both shifted uncomfortably. "If we're both this nervous shouldn't we just wait –" she cut me off.  
  
"No!" Now she's looking at me. "I mean, I know myself. I want this, Niles, I really do. I just get so afraid, I don't know why. And I don't want to back out on this. I love you too much to do so." Wow, she wanted this. And I knew exactly what 'this' was. Yet I felt the urge to clarify.  
  
"So, you want me to, propose?" I asked, we stared at each other, eventually she started chuckling.  
  
"This is silly. Yes, Niles, I do want you to propose, but it doesn't have to be today, or tomorrow, or next week. Just at some point, whenever you feel it is right. I would like that, with all my heart." She had broken the tension that had filled the room. And I suddenly realized what I was about to do.   
  
"I don't want to wait," she gasped and I knelt before her, my hands beginning to shake as I reached for hers. "Daphne, I love you. I've loved you for so long. To finally have you here, with me, is better than any present I could possibly have received. You complete me; you are the sun that shines in my world. To have you with me would be to have the sun shining everyday, even in Seattle. I want to share my world with you, now and always. Daphne Moon, will you marry me?" A few tears fell down her cheeks.  
  
"Yes, yes I will marry you," she flung her arms around me and kissed me passionately. I pulled back.  
  
"I never thought I would do that unplanned and without a ring," she laughed nervously.  
  
"Those things aren't important. All that matters is that it was between you and me." I kissed her again and picked her up. Needless to say this made two nights in a row that my Daphne never made it home. I had a feeling she would never be sleeping at Frasier's again and I did not mind that sentiment, not one bit.  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Bryce~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
I amazingly had a wonderful time in my last month in Seattle. Things really were working out for the best. Daphne and I soon found out that our friendship had not been tampered with, even though our engagement had fallen through. We spent a lot of time together in the last month, purely as friends. I also spent a lot of time with Daphne and Niles. Competitors at one point, Niles and I found out that we were quite fond of each other. Daphne could not be happier to see, as she called us, 'her two men' become close friends. They happened to stop by as I was packing up my belongings to head home to London.  
  
"Hello?" I asked having answered my door.  
  
"Hey Bryce," Daphne said while giving me a kiss on the cheek.  
  
"Hello Bryce," Niles replied while shaking my hand.  
  
"Hey you two, what brings you here?" I asked while letting them in.  
  
"Well," Niles began, "we thought you could use a good going away present." He then handed me a bag.  
  
"Oh mates, you shouldn't have done this!" I exclaimed.  
  
"We did and we have, so deal," Daphne teased me. I sat down and opened the present, what I pulled out was an envelope. I looked inside and was greeted with a wedding invitation for Niles and Daphne, a real one. I had known about their engagement, the ring on her finger was hard to miss, but I had no idea they were already planning. I let out a laugh.  
  
"So you like it then?" Daphne asked.  
  
"Of course I do," I said while giving them both a hug. "Making sure I make it back to America?  
  
"The sooner the better," Niles said. I glanced at the invitation again; it was to be held in three months time.  
  
"You'll be able to make it for the wedding, won't you?" Niles asked, noticing the concern on my face.  
  
"I'm sure if I explain the situation, that I need to go to my ex-fiancée's wedding, they'll be so confused that they'll have to let me go." We all laughed at that.  
  
"If that doesn't work you can tell them the full story," Daphne chuckled.  
  
"I'm sure I'll be able to make it."  
  
"You better, you're going to be one of our attendants," Niles said to me. I was a little shocked.  
  
"Are you serious mate?" I asked.  
  
"Quite so," Daphne replied. I didn't know what to respond to that, so I gave them both another hug.  
  
"Are you sad to be leaving?" Niles asked me.  
  
"Nah, I miss London. I am sad I have to go before pulling another ploy over on your family," the three of us laughed.  
  
"You know that if we did one more they would just turn around and get us back, don't you?" Niles asked.  
  
"Of course I do. You're just forgetting that I would be safely in London by that time." Daphne gave me a glare.  
  
"And I have phone numbers to most of your family," she smirked at me.  
  
"You wouldn't!" I exclaimed and then changed my tune and responded to that at the same time Niles spoke the exact same words, "she would." Daphne let out a gasp and slapped both of us on the arms.  
  
"Go on, leave this country you lazy git!" She exclaimed at me. "Why did I ever let you two become friends?" Niles moved over to her and kissed her cheek.  
  
"Would you prefer us to be fighting over you?"   
  
"We can do that, you know," I said to help him out.   
  
"No, no, that's perfectly alright."   
  
"Oh, Daphne," Niles began, "I forgot the other present in the car, would you mind getting it, I want a word with Bryce."   
  
"Sure," and then she left.  
  
"What's up?" I asked. Niles sat down across from me.  
  
"Are you really ok with this?" he asked.  
  
"With your wedding?" I asked back.  
  
"Yes."  
  
"Niles, haven't you learned by now that I want you two to be together, that I am happy for the two of you with no bad feelings?"  
  
"I know that, Bryce. I just don't know how you do it. If I were in your position I'd be dying," I placed a hand on his shoulder.  
  
"Maybe that's why you're the one with Daphne now," he gave me a smile. He understood what I was saying. The past month had proven to me that Daphne and I were not meant to be together. What she and Niles had was so much more than anything we ever had. I was anxious to find that for myself. Jealousy was the last thing on my mind.  
  
"So you're truly alright with this?"  
  
"As her ex-fiancée I give you my blessing." We then both let out a chuckle as we gave each other a quick hug.  
  
"Now isn't that cute," Daphne had returned and was leaning against the door. "My two men are bonding," she grinned at us. Niles took the bag from her hands and handed it to me.  
  
"Now for the real gift," he said. I opened this one up to find a book of photographs of American landmarks.  
  
"So that you get to see everything you missed," Niles said proudly. Daphne shook her head from behind him.  
  
"There's a little something else in there," I held in a laugh, we both knew that Niles' nice sentiment wasn't exactly my thing. I soon found a gag book, I looked up at Daphne.  
  
"Ideas that have not yet reached English soil," we both laughed.  
  
"Thank you both."  
  
"Can we steal you away from your packing for dinner?" Daphne asked. I looked at my half started mess.  
  
"Sure, why not."  
  
  
  
I came back to Seattle three months later to participate in their wedding. The only downside was that I came over with Daphne's family, all fourteen of them. Luckily the Moons are part of my history and it was enjoyable to be annoyed by them again, as strange as that sounds.   
  
The wedding itself was beautiful. More beautiful were the speeches that Niles and Daphne had composed for each other, a few tears had even come to my eyes. Afterwards I let Daphne in on a little secret of mine, it was the first time I had gotten a chance to really talk to her since I had landed.  
  
"Bryce McGee, how are you old friend?" she said with a huge smile plastered on her face.  
  
"Not to bad, Daphne Crane," I winked at her, she thought for a moment.  
  
"That's going to take some getting used to. Do you know how many times I've said Mrs. Crane in reference to Niles' first wife?" We chuckled a bit.  
  
"I can imagine. Daph, I have something I want to share with you." I took out my wallet and handed her a picture.  
  
"Pretty little thing, who is she?" Daphne asked, I only smiled at her. She caught on.  
  
"Name," she demanded.  
  
"Ashley Peters."  
  
"Nice?"  
  
"Sweetest little dear I have ever met," I said a little dreamily.  
  
"Verdict?" I came back to my sense and looked at Daphne.  
  
"Think you'll be able to make it to London at some point."  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~The End~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


End file.
